History Main / SoldiersAtTheRear

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': In the Night's Watch, the Rangers are the ones who venture beyond the Wall to fight wildlings, while the the Stewards and Builders stay behind and get much less prestige. When Jon is assigned to the Stewards rather than the Rangers, he's extremely disappointed. He complains that rather than face wildlings in battle, he'll be changing the Lord Commander's chamber pot. It takes Sam to make him realize that the Lord Commander is grooming him for command.

** Zigzagged with the Constructicons. As the premier construction unit of the Decepticons, one might think they'd be kept behind the front lines to focus on construction. However, they also [[CombiningMecha combine into the astoundingly powerful Devastator]] and so depending on the story can be found on the front or behind it. The bio of Scrapper (an architect) notes that Megatron finds him more useful off the field than on it due to his skill in quickly designing and building fortifications using whatever material is on-hand, while in the bio Long Haul (who transforms into a dump truck) mention is made of how he actively dislikes his role as materials transportation and would much prefer to be a full-time frontline warrior... but wisely keeps this to himself because Megatron isn't known for his patience with soldiers who don't follow orders.

* In ''Film/InTheArmyNow", the protagonists want to join the army to get the startup money they need for their new electronics store, but don't want to see actual combat. First, they don't join the actual US Army, but the US Army ''Reserves'' who typically aren't mobilized for combat. They then choose to join a water purification unit, figuring that it is the least likely to see frontline combat. However, this gets subverted when a conflict flares up between Libya and Chad, two [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes desert nations with scarce water supplies necessitating water purification capability]]. While in Chad, they get little respect from the combat troops who derogatorily call them "waterboys". However, they manage to bumble their way to success when they end up having to [[YouAreInCommandNow take charge]] of a Special Forces mission when the original Special Forces unit is wiped out.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** An inversion: one episode dealt with Riker being [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E14TheIcarusFactor offered his own command]]. He turned it down because the ships offered were in areas of space that were less likely to see action. He also noted that being the executive officer on the flagship ''Enterprise'' was superior in terms of prestige to being captain of ''any'' other ship.
** Captain Picard himself is also an inversion: he's been offered promotion to Admiral rank many times, and is more than qualified to hold such a position, but continually declines as he prefers to be out among the stars rather than behind a desk. He's ''so good'' at his job that Starfleet never, in the series or the movies, moves to push him out of his captaincy. [[FridgeBrilliance Maybe they learned their lesson from all the hijinx Kirk used to get up to every time they kicked him out of the captain's chair?]]
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** Captain Ben Sisko. After his wife was killed at Wolf 359, he transferred out of starship duty into working at the Fleet's shipyards. Of couse, while there he was part of the design team of the ''USS Defiant'' to fight the Borg (and later he used it against the Dominion). [[{{Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E04BehindTheLines}} As the war progressed]], Admiral Ross "promoted" Sisko to a desk job as his adjunct and Commander Dax took over as the ''Defiant'''s CO. As much as it grated for him to see his baby in someone else's hands, Sisko would later hatch a plan to retake Deep Space Nine and get his command back.
** In the episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E21TheMaquis}} The Maquis]]", Sisko complains that his superiors back on Earth will never understand the grievances of the Federation colonists because Earth is a paradise, see also ArmchairMilitary.
** Poor Nog. He joined Starfleet and was the TeamPet and a good engineer. Then [[{{Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E08TheSiegeOfAR558}} he gets sent to AR558]]. He idolizes the {{Shell Shocked Veteran}}s, until the WhamEpisode goes in full effect....

** Sam himself was eager to become a Steward; he barely made it through basic training with Jon protecting him, and his rare skill of literacy made him invaluable to assiting their now blind Maester with the [[InstantMessengerPigeon messenger ravens]]. Unfortunately for him, there was soon cause for a massive scouting force to venture north, and they needed the ravens to coordinate with Castle Black, so he ended up in harm's way anyway.

Often, and perhaps against the stereotype, the children of important and/or wealthy people do join the military because they want to serve. Fortunately or unfortunately, the military brass aren't morons and know that if the child of a VIP dies on their watch, they're in for a world of trouble. Thus, through no fault of his or her own, the kid with the silver spoon might spend the war behind a desk somewhere typing up reports. The same thing can apply to celebrities: had UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli accepted his conscription during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, he most likely would have been giving exhibition matches to entertain troops, as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Louis Joe Louis]] did during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (though Louis was not drafted). There are exceptions to this rule, and most of them come from wars up to and including the First World War.

Often, and perhaps against the stereotype, the children of important and/or wealthy people do join the military because they want to serve. Fortunately or unfortunately, the military brass aren't morons and know that if the child of a VIP dies on their watch, they're in for a world of trouble. Thus, through no fault of his or her own, the kid with the silver spoon might spend the war behind a desk somewhere typing up reports. The same thing can apply to celebrities: had UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli accepted his conscription during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, he most likely would have been giving exhibition matches to entertain troops, as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Louis Joe Louis]] did during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (though Louis was not drafted).

* Cezary Regard in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' is only a Sniper because it keeps him away from the front lines. He's also one of the more unpleasant members of the army, being a {{Jerkass}}, a KnowNothingKnowItAll and racist. He is also the only member of Squad 7 who will blame Welkin if killed in battle.

* NCR Soldiers garrisoned at the Mojave Outpost in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' don't see any real fighting, and won't unless [[TheHorde Caesar's Legion]] decide to push west. Pointdexter of the Misfits specifically joined the military with the goal of obtaining with a cushy desk job while performing as little as possible.

* ''TabletopGame/Battletech'': Caradoc Travana is a subversion. He had a career that involve mostly sitting in depots away from the front lines of the Clan Invasion, leading to many people assuming that he was a coward or incompetent. In fact, he was a fairly good mechwarrior, but he was absolutely brilliant when it came to strategy and logistics so most of his superior officers had chosen to keep him out of combat where his skills could be put to better use. Indeed, when he did end up seeing combat due to Clan Jade Falcon launching a massive invasion of the planet Coventry, where he was stationed, his attention to details and support meant that the mechwarriors serving under him performed far better than other units during both the initial invasion and as resistance fighters in the subsequent occupation, and the strategies he came up with were instrumental in convincing the Falcons to leave when reinforcements arrived rather than sticking around for a prolonged battle that would have devastated both sides.