Veteran is for anyone that served honorably.

Combat or not - doesn't matter. I volunteered for Desert Storm but ended up in Turkey. In the end our base was actually attacked with live fire and we were designated as a combat zone anyway. None of that matters though because we were serving in a designated time of war/action.

Edited - I was slightly wrong. I was using the veteran definition that allows membership into organizations like VFW or the American Legion. I updated this to fix it. My initial comment limited it to serving during a specific campaign, like WW2, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, etc. but those requirements only pertain to those memberships.

38 U.S.C. § 101(2) provides: The term "veteran" means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.