One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer

My approach to reading One Bullet Away came through my battalion's e-mail which arrived one day with the audible ding I'm so used to hearing. "Marine Officer speaking about Iraq and his book at Georgetown" was the subject, and the body continued explaining Fick's tour followed by, "even though this isn't open to the public, you should take advantage of this. It should be really interesting."

And interesting it was. When I met him Fick seemed to be a rather cool, modest charecter. He reminded me of a lot of my battalions cadre, except he also had a very down to earth appeal. Well, being a college student I didn't really have the spare cash to buy another book, so it wasn't until summer that I was able to actually purchase a copy.

As a cadet, there is a certain mystique to becoming an officer. We hear MS-4s (seniors) talk about camp and waiting for their orders to come in and what branch they'll get, we hear the cadre talk about our duties, leadership, tactics, and the like. We go to specialty schools such as Airborne and Air Assault school, but sometimes there is simply a missing piece to becoming an officer. Yet Fick gives some great insight into becoming one. While I'm with the Army and he was a Marine, I can certainly relate to a lot of things he's said. There are some critical differences, as that I'm doing ROTC and have wanted to be an Army Officer since I was a kid and he quickly, almost spur of the moment jumped onto the OCS band wagon, but in the end I realized that we have the same driving momentum to join the services.

Fick's descriptive passages about OCS, training, Afghanistan, and Iraq are mind blowing to say the least. The book is very well written and really opened my eyes to what it means to be an officer and how an officer performs in combat. His down to earth style of writing was easy to relate to, including his fears of combat and frustration with a sometimes seemingly inane command structure. But it was his conclusion of what drove him to become a Marine and why he was indeed proud of it that perhaps hit me the most.

If you're thinking about becoming an officer in the Services or wish to see inside the mind of an officer in the service, this is perhaps one of the better books out there to read. Whether in his descriptive narrative or down to earth approach, as any good marksman would know, he knows exactly where the heart is.

A magnificent memoir from a scholar-warrior in the mode of the great T.E. Lawrence, a man with the strength and integrity of General Eric Shinseki. How blessed we are to have such fine young men amongst our military officers. If one in a hundred match his standard of integrity and honor, then our nation will survive whatever evil faces us. The platoon leaders and company commanders forged in Iraq and Afghanistan are the nation's brightest hope for a better future, unlike so many of today's leaders who sat "with other priorities" on the sidelines during the war in Southeast Asia.

In these days when bitter disappointments cause us to question everything and everyone, it is probably safe to say that given the choice of trusting the word of a military officer or a politician, we still look to the military man every time. And given the choice of trusting a still uncorrupted captain or a run of the mill general, the captain wins hands down. No one who reads "One Bullet Away" will harbor any doubts about its authenticity and its moments of remarkable genius.

As a fellow USMC Captain--currently not on active duty--this book resonated with me and brought back memories of OCS, TBS and beyond. I believe this book would be great for anyone wanting to know more about life as a USMC Officer, particularly of the NON-field grade variety!
Ooh-rah!
Capt Ed D. (E2D) Seaman, USMC: "Marines, we don't suffer from insanity, we ENJOY every minute of it!"

Follow Nathaniel Fick through OCS, all of his specialty training , Afghanistan and Iraq. Walk in his boots as he goes from a college student to a hardened battle veteran. This is a no holds barred commentary on the pride, the friendships, the trust, the conflicts, and the frustrations of life in the Marine Corps.

I really enjoyed this book, some authors of military books inject too much politics in their books (Lone Survivor), really any politics at all is too much for me------not looking for a political science lesson when I buy a book to read for enjoyment. This book is very well written and informative, action packed, and the author pulls no punches---tells it like it is!

I highly recommend this book!

A great read!

This was a book about the training and development of a Marine Officer from basic training to combat missions in Afganistan which I found throughly interesting. You can see why our military is the best in the world with people like this who are high achievers dedicated to the protection of our country. I wish I could give it ten stars.

The book was well written and offered a glimpse of the traditions and values of the Corps. The description of life in Iraq provided insights I had not previously considered. Hats off and thanks to Capt. Fick from an old Army guy.

Such an honest portrayal of one marine recon platoon's experience during the invasion of Iraq. Combine this book with generation kill by Evan wright and you will have an on the ground look at the first month of the war in Iraq and the honor of marines.

I enjoyed reading this book and learning more about the Marine Corps. As a 53-year-old woman, I see myself as from an era where women and military were kept separate, which I guess is why it was difficult for me to follow what was going on, especially the acronyms. It would have been nice to have an index with all the acronyms double-posted.

THIS story provides an insight to the training of a marine and then a view of war as seen from a platoon leader and his team. The stress, fear, boredom, frustration and friendship developed through combat.

One Bullet Away operates on two levels. First, it is a bildungsroman in which Fick, an anonymous marine, climbs arduously from the swamps of Officer Candidate School to the level of Captain in the Marines. Second, it is a social text, offering the reader rare access to experiences that beckon us to reshape our assumptions about war and warriorhood.

Fick is honest in his account of the challenges of military training, which range from physical to social to psychological. Whether describing training or war he forces us to ask over and over, "could I make it through that?" This simultaneous reflection -- reader reflecting on author's reflections -- makes the work an extremely compelling narrative on its own.

One of the potential problems of the work is that Fick's relative anonymity makes the subtext of his personal journey an inadequate foundation for an entire book. But throughout the work, Fick subordinates his own emotions and experiences under wider and more philosophical overtones that hint at the social effects of war. Desk-and-sofa jockeys tend to think of armed conflict in broad terms--army versus army, state versus state--and not as solider versus soldier until the kid next door comes home in a casket. Or until someone like Fick comes home and tells us about it. In that sense, the book provides a basis for us to understand and account more fully for the true, individual costs of war--those that we could not otherwise begin to measure.

Fick's prose switches easily between pithy nuggets and the type of action-driven narration that puts the reader out of breath. This oscillation in voice reflects, perhaps, the author's own struggle to wage war before he has a chance to make sense of its chaos. Either way, he has done us a favor by providing us secondary access to an existence--no matter how temporary--that we'd never be able to imagine.

This book is well written and gives one an understanding, just what it takes to be a Marine officer. Not boring on any page and keeps one's attention, through out. We need more officers in our services, just like Nathaniel. This is from a Vietnam veteran and I have a son flying Apache's in Afghanistan, I write this review.
J Stewart

This stands as a perfect example of the struggles of leadership and truly depict how "doing the right thing isn't always doing the right thing." I believe that this book should be read by all leaders, regardless of time served, to remind us of what's important. Our Marines.

Great job sir.

In depth insight into US marine officer corps training, and seal training.......invasion of Iraq and brief stint in Afghanistan. Explanation of factors involved in whether to make the military a career.

Politicians often proclaim how Americans owe so much to our veterans, but this story goes much beyond flowery tributes. It helps us understand the sacrifice, dedication and honor necessary to be a warrior. I can only hope that these warriors are given the respect and care they deserve.

In depth insight into US marine officer corps training, and seal training.......invasion of Iraq and brief stint in Afghanistan. Explanation of factors involved in whether to make the military a career.

Politicians often proclaim how Americans owe so much to our veterans, but this story goes much beyond flowery tributes. It helps us understand the sacrifice, dedication and honor necessary to be a warrior. I can only hope that these warriors are given the respect and care they deserve.

A compelling read. As a former Marine, I found the book fascinating. The training, the camaraderie and the spirit of the Marine code has not changed in the 55 years since I served. I found the challenges and moral ambiguity faced in combat by the young officer compelling. I thought the mentality of some of his senior officers and the incompetence of some of them altogether very human. A compelling read.

This Marine does himself and his country honor by choosing the road less travelled. SEMPER FI. Most Americans are distanced from this war and will not understand, but I will.

OEF 2011-2012
FOB Sharana, Patkika Province

This was a great book that talked about how fearless the marine corps is and also how amazing the Force Recon is as well! They deserve as much recognition as the other special forces and in my opinion, just as capable at accomplishing missions just as well as the SEALS because they do a lot of same training and are same branch.

This book was great, goes along with the TV series Generation Kill which was based off of this reading. I highly recommend for all Marine OCS candidates as it has good information concerning the OCS and TBS processes, as well as life after training, dealing with unqualified superiors, etc...

This is an intimate look into one young warriors perspective and experiences in the war on terror. Well written, this will keep you turning pages not only because of the action but the thought provoking content. Highly recommend!

Very good book. It started as a young man finished Dartmouth and joined the Marines. This included his trials in boot camp and continuing through his trials and tribulations through two months in heavy battle. He an Officer throwout this time and brought
every man home alive. This book gave the reader a look inside of the Marine Family in combat.

Great book; really kept my attention. At points, it was hard to remember what all the acronyms stood for. But it really gives the reader an inside look at what it's like to be in combat. I also liked that Nate walks you through his thought process at key decision times.

Nathaniel did a fantastic job of painting the good and bad of being a military officer. His experience during that time of our history should be required reading for each high school student in their American History class. It would give them a better understanding of the Gulf War bad the effects of politics. Hopefully it will help us not relive the mistakes of our past.