History Main / PostInjuryDeskJob

* Averted with pilots Douglas Bader and Hans-Ulrich Rudel, [[HandicappedBadass both of whom continued to fly after losing their legs]] (both in the case of Bader, one in the case of Rudel). In fact, Bader's lack of legs made him ''better' at resisting G-forces than regular pilots, because the blood had nowhere to go.

** Zigagged with Space Marines: Those too far wounded to continue as line troops but not too badly that they need a MercyKill are instead interred as Dreadnoughts, heavily armed and armored life-support sarcophagi on legs that serve as WalkingTank's. Because of their comparative rarity and endurance, they're usually asleep for centuries until they're needed again, both for battle and to give commanders the benefit of their experience. Subverted with Chaos Space Marines, for who the Dreadnought is ''punishment'': When not in battle, their legs and weapons are removed and they're chained to a wall for years or centuries. When in battle they're so far gone that have a chance of shooting their own side.

* ThePenguinsOfMadagascar: In "Action Reaction" Skipper is forced to pick desk job to avoid stress, which could make him explode.

* In ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'', judges injured in the line of duty who cannot recover sufficiently to meet the requirements of continuing as a street judge are often reassigned to administrative roles elsewhere in the Justice Department or become instructors at the Academy of Law.

* ''In Literature/{{Worm}}'', PRT ENE director Emily Piggot originally served as a PRT field agent, before a mission gone wrong resulted in kidney and muscle damage that prevented her from returning to field work.

** Zigagged with Space Marines: Those too far wounded to continue as line troops but not too badly that they need a MercyKill are instead interred as Dreadnoughts, heavily armed and armored life-support sarcophagi on legs that serve as WalkingTanks. Because of their comparative rarity and endurance, they're usually asleep for centuries until they're needed again, both for battle and to give commanders the benefit of their experience. Subverted with Chaos Space Marines, for who the Dreadnought is ''punishment'': When not in battle, their legs and weapons are removed and they're chained to a wall for years or centuries. When in battle they're so far gone that have a chance of shooting their own side.

* ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' has a soldier missing both legs and with a prosthetic arm processing the recruits' enlistment papers.

* Averted with pilots Douglas Bader and Hans-Ulrich Rudel, [[HandicappedBadass both of whom continued to fly after losing their legs]] (both in the case of Bader, one in the case of Rudel).

[[quoteright:349:[[Film/SavingPrivateRyan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/post_injury_desk_job.png]]]]

* In ''Series/{{JAG}}'' Harmon Rabb Jr was once a hotshot F-14 Tomcat pilot who’d seen action in the Gulf of Sudra and the Persian Gulf War. However, he suffered from night blindness, causing him to crash his fighter during a nighttime carrier landing. Harm transfers to the Judge Advocate General corps as a lawyer. However, after his night blindness is surgically cured, he returns to the fleet briefly as a fighter pilot, then returns back to JAG due to poor career prospects if he stays in the fleet.
* One ''Series/Adam12'' episode had Reed working the information desk after an arm injury. He’s sporting a cast on his wrist and uses his pencil to try and stop the itching at one point. Malloy has an annoying temporary partner.

* Astronauts Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton both had this. Slayton had atrial fibrillation and Shepard Ménière’s disease, an inner ear condition that wreaks havoc on balance. Slayton was made Chief of the Astronaut Office and he later moved to the Director of Flight Operations job and made Shepard Chief of the Astronaut Office. Both later did one more mission each, after Slayton’s a-fib went away on its own and Shepard underwent experimental ear surgery. Shepard commanded Apollo 14 and walked and played golf on the moon and Slayton flew on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission.

[[quoteright:349:[[Film/SavingPrivateRyan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/post_injury_desk_job_2.png]]]]

* In ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'', judges injured in the line of duty who cannot recover sufficiently to meet the requirements of continuing as a street judge are often reassigned to administrative roles elsewhere in the Justice Department or become instructors at the Academy of Law. In the story arc "The Day the Law Died" Dredd recruits several of them to aid in his rebellion against the insane Judge Cal as they have not been affected by the brainwashing the street judges were subjected to via subliminal messages in their daily briefing tapes.

* A sports version appears in ''Literature/EndoAndKobayashiLive The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte''. Endo was a high-school baseball team member but was forced to retire due to CareerEndingInjury. The team manager offered him a managerial position on the team, but he [[SubvertedTrope declined it]] in favor of the Broadcasting Club, possibly intended to have a career in sports commentary.

* A sports version appears in ''LightNovel/EndoAndKobayashiLiveTheLatestOnTsundereVillainessLieselotte''. Endo was a high-school baseball team member but was forced to retire due to CareerEndingInjury. The team manager offered him a managerial position on the team, but he [[SubvertedTrope declined it]] in favor of the Broadcasting Club, possibly intended to have a career in sports commentary.