Conscript close to firefight feared being shot (7)
I believe the answer is:
draftee
'conscript' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'close to firefight feared being shot' is the wordplay.
'close to' indicates one should take the final letters (the close/ending of).
'being shot' is an anagram indicator.
The last letter of 'firefight' is 't'.
't'+'feared'='tfeared'
'tfeared' with letters rearranged gives 'DRAFTEE'.
(Other definitions for draftee that I've seen before include "One forced to join" , "Rookie" , "US conscript" , "Soldier, perhaps unwilling" , "American military conscript" .)