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So I am curious about something, when it comes to higher ranked officers out in a war zone, not specifically to seek out the enemy but just the nature of their job, are the lower rank grunt guys supposed to protect them like the SS does for the President or other high-ranking officials? By that I mean while obviously if say a General were coming to town on the way they ended up getting ambushed would the other guys like huddle over him acting as human shields or would the General be expected to pick up a gun and start shooting back along with the other guys as well?
We don't protect our officers like that. The answer is no. HIGH ranking officers have protection details, but the "common" member of the military isn't charged with a responsibility like that.
No. A general officer has staff officers, but they are not bodyguards. Depending on the circumstances members of the Military Police can be assigned as an escort or protection officers.
Really wasn't my nature way back in the late Cold War; like many of my type, military police, I liked to fight and hit.
I don't recall ever having an actual job of protecting a superior officer from being attacked but if it came to that, I'd probably shove him out of the way and then proceed to beat the stuffing out of the attacker.
The one time that question came up was during casualty notification (telling the family that their kin has died) training where if I was assigned with someone like a Chaplain and the family member reacted violently to the messenger. Me being who I was, it came down to telling such an officer before we met the family that if such were to happen, he was to beat feet while I did what was necessary to "cover our retreat".
So I am curious about something, when it comes to higher ranked officers out in a war zone, not specifically to seek out the enemy but just the nature of their job, are the lower rank grunt guys supposed to protect them like the SS does for the President or other high-ranking officials? By that I mean while obviously if say a General were coming to town on the way they ended up getting ambushed would the other guys like huddle over him acting as human shields or would the General be expected to pick up a gun and start shooting back along with the other guys as well?
No. A general officer visiting the front will have an escort detail of his own. If they are attacked, the soldiers he's visiting will do what they're supposed to do--respond to the attack in kind as they'd do if he weren't there. But take a bullet for him? No.
BTW, Brigadier General Teddy Roosevelt Jr was the highest ranking officer (and the oldest soldier) to hit Utah Beach during the Normandy Invasion in WWII, coming out of the landing craft like all the rest...except because of WWI wounds, he had a cane in one hand and a Colt 1911 in the other. No protection detail.
In the Army, we have a Detail Team called PSD (personal security detachment) and they are to protect, in a few cases, the rank of major and above.
This is the answer for the Army.
A LTC and higher will typically get a PSD.
I served as the PL on a PSD for our LTC. Wasn't a bad gig as wherever the boss went to meetings and feasts, you had to do the same.
The COL usually travels with a larger PSD and I've seen some really dumb stuff from the goons on his PSD. Saw an idiot carrying a throwing axe.
A GO will have a robust PSD. One of the safest times I ever felt outside of the wire was when a GO visited us on a mission. He had very robust assets protecting him, the majority of which were not on the ground.
Depends on how senior. If we are talking 4 star level, they absolutely have body guards and a significant amount of assets and planning surrounding their movements in theater. It's not much different than a senior politician.
I served as the PL on a PSD for our LTC. Wasn't a bad gig as wherever the boss went to meetings and feasts, you had to do the same.
The COL usually travels with a larger PSD and I've seen some really dumb stuff from the goons on his PSD. Saw an idiot carrying a throwing axe.
A GO will have a robust PSD. One of the safest times I ever felt outside of the wire was when a GO visited us on a mission. He had very robust assets protecting him, the majority of which were not on the ground.
This is the answer. I was on PSD teams from BN all the way up to GO. I have seen makeshift details put together at the company level occasionally. Your job is to protect and evacuate the boss, and not fight an engagement - tough for a lot of the 11B I knew on teams . The boss will never engage in a firefight - ever.
You do not want to be the guy explaining to higher up why your charge was wounded or killed. One nice thing about GO teams is that everyone responds to your BF queries for info .
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. The boss will never engage in a firefight - ever. 
