Amazingly written by "one of the few and the proud" to inform the readers of the honor, courage and commitment that it takes to be a leader of one of the finest fighting force on the planet.

Bottomline up Front: Author held back making this a disappointing book that had the potential to be great!

I had a lot of hope for this book, me being of somewhat a similar background, same age, same upper-middle class back ground, while also a military officer, however this book did'nt deliever and infact at the end I found it very disappointing.

The beginning of the book was great, i would give it a solid 4-5 stars, when he is talking about going through the Marine Corps OCS and how his view on life changed after going through that. That should be a required read for anyone thinking of trying to become an officer, having been through combat I found much of his commentary on being an officer and what it takes to be an officer, resoundingly true and accurate.

The book started going downhill on his commentary about War. I don't need to get into it too much other than to say it was bland and boring, his views of Afganistan were okay, but when it came to Iraq, I found I was longing more.

One of the reasons I picked up this book was that I had read Generation Kill a few times, and though I loved that book I figured some of the commentary provided by Evan Wright was skewed because he was with the younger NCOs/PFCs and did'nt have all the facts surrounding the orders that were given. Though Fick says in both books that the heart of the Marines is the NCO corps I was longing to understand better some of the overall rational behind the orders that were given.

Instead, Fick glosses over many of the major mistakes that Wright points out, I'm assuming since this came out after Generation Kill that Fick was somehow trying to protect those officers that made the mistakes. I was getting to a point where I thought that Wright perceptions were wrong, then in the final part of the book where it talks about the CO leading PT and the Company's response, it was clear that Fick had covered alot of what happened up to "protect the innocent."

Let me be clear, the book was an good read, I just found myself thinking that Fick did a dis-service to any young person/enlisted troop that wants to be an officer someday. Instead of pointing out some of the flaws in the decision making of the supierior officers he instead glosses over those facts and makes it seem like it's a big deal. You could tell at times that Fick was holding back on what happened during a particular sitation. This could have been a book that would be required reading for any of my young Lts or Cadets that I meet in stead I'm going to tell them to read the first back and be done with it.

The final 15-20 pages or so were a good overall commentary on the war and why he got out. Once again, i felt he was holding back, but it at least ends on a plus note.

Final thought, if your interested in this book/time period in Iraq, I would first read this book and then Generation Kill, it will shed light on alot of the issues Fick just touches on.

Dear Amazon:

I am a WW2 veteran and I have many books about various segments of that war. Most of them are very good and inform and transport me back to that era. "One Bullet Away" is my first book on the Afganistan/Iraq conflict and the author is eqaually as fine a writer as the authors of the many WW2 books in my library.

I have purchased books and music from Amazon and I have nothing but praise for your service and product.

Herman C. Carlson

A very good book. Hats off to Fick and all the men and women serving in our military.

I bought this book after watching Generation Kill on HBO and have to see if is a very well written and very interesting book.

This book is a fantastic read, the only word that can describe the heart, soul, and energy of this author. You can feel the pride, the confusion, and the frustration with every word written by Capt. Fick. It was one of those books that you wish would never end. A must read.

I bought Generation Kill when it first came out. Lt. Fick came across as the type of leader you would want if you had to go into combat. Finding that balance between following ambitious orders and not callously risking Marines lives can't be easy. One Bullet Away is more proof that ordinary people can do extraordinary things under difficult circumstances. It seems that the company grade officers and front line troops are much more aware of the ramifications of bad command and political decisions. Maybe we should reverse the Command structure and let the Lieutenants and Captains plan and conduct our operations... I certainly hope that Nate Fick plans on a political career after Graduate School. We need leaders like him.

I'm applying for OCS myself, so I'm going through absolutely as much Marine Corps literature as I can. This book was most valuable for me in its relation of Fick's life before the Corps and during OCS. Somewhere along the way, though, he really just lost my interest. I suppose Fick is an intelligent person, and that comes across in his writing. But the writing doesn't really get beyond that--it seems like an A- paper written by a Dartmouth undergrad. It's just not very compelling--light-years behind a book like Jarhead. So if you are looking for an entertaining book about the Corps, go for Jarhead, but keep in mind that its portrayal of the Marines is rather sour. I could really only recommend this book to aspiring officer candidates, and even then, WARLORD by Ilario Pantano, in my opinion, offers a more candid, gritty, unapologetic and entertaining view of a Marine officer's experience in Iraq.

This book has a beautiful grit and honesty. Fick doesn't talk up or down to the reader. He doesn't glorify or embellish the life of a marine. He doesn't judge or condemn politicians, military or brass, his superiors or his troops. He just tells his story, in a clear, resonant, powerful voice. The simplicity of his style conveys the clarity of a marine's values - honor, loyalty, duty, having the back of every other marine in your platoon.

I listened to this book unabridged on audio CD narrated by Andy Paris. His narration is exceptional - a strong, unwavering voice well-suited to the confidence of a marine officer, but also very adept at capturing Fick's battle to make sense out of war's daily insanity.

I bought this book with a different reason in mind than most. At the time I was considering a military career and I wanted the author's insights into the commissioning process for officers in the Marines. For anyone with similar aspirations this book is an excellent read as the opening chapters include a detailed look at the process of the author's passage from starting as a raw civilian going through the rigors of OCS, TBS, MOS school and ultimately life in the service. I thoroughly enjoyed this first half of the book and found myself reading the first few chapters over and over.

However, the book takes a sharp nose-dive into mediocrity after it becomes a war memoir of the author's service in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nathaniel Fick participated in the most controversial and significant historical event of our generation, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, yet at no point anywhere in this book does he offer anything resembling an opinion or judgement about the war. This is not a veteran offering his insights into his experience in war, this is a very sanitized and sterilized publicity document for a future politician looking to showcase his military service without saying anything that might offend possible future voters. Even his descriptions of combat, which are few and far between, seem scrubbed of anything that might shock or upset the reader.

If you're contemplating a miliary career as an officer and want a glimpse of OCS and TBS from the perspective of someone who has done it already then this book is required reading. But if you're looking for a deep, meanining look into the Iraq war through the eyes of a veteran who fought it then look elsewhere.

There is a great divide in America between those in the military and those who are not. Nowhere is that divide more total than in the elite universities, where virtually no one knows anyone in the military or has any sympathy for it. This book is a very rare bridge between those two worlds. Fick graduated from Dartmouth in 1998, became an elite Marine officer, fought in Afghanistan and Iraq and then went back to graduate school. This is his memoir.

The primary subject of the book is the training that a Marine officer goes through, the transformation from an ordinary person into a warrior. It is extremely well written. The pace is relatively slow, and the reader is able to go along with Fick on his emotional journey from Ivy League student to Marine officer.

Fick happened to finish his training as an officer, just as 9/11 was happening. He thus jointed the military, when we were still at peace, and was a very junior officer, just as the war was starting. He gives an excellent account of some of the early fighting -- and early mistakes -- in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was rotated out of Iraq, just after Saddam fell, however, so his account is limited to the early war, before the counter-insurgency started. In short, a very valuable, well worth reading for many reasons, but very out of date, for those wanting to understand the Iraq War.

This is a great read for those concerned with how we train our Marine Corps officers. An added bonus: an inside view on the early US incursion in Afghanistan and how we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the early days in Bagdad. I've bought at least a dozen copies for interested friends.

Captain Fick has done the Corps and the American public a great service with this insightful and well written book. In it, he explores what it means to be a platoon commander, responsible for many young lives while leading them into battle. Fick does not hold back in either detail or in exploring his own emotions, giving the reader the best possible sense of what it is like to be a small unit leader in the US Marine Corps.

Fick begins by detailing the process of becoming a Marine officer: Officer Candidate School, The Basic School, and the Infantry Officer's Course. He discusses the difficult and often frustrating training that he is put through, and the resulting transformation that he undergoes from young man into lean, tough Marine.

Then, through the lens of his deployments to Afghanistan with the 1st Marines and Iraq with 2nd Recon, he gives the reader a firsthand sense of the boredom, fear, and excitement of combat, the pride in seeing his platoons perform well in the most dangerous situations, and the incredible frustration at being led by weak and incompetent officers.

One Bullet Away, together with Generation Kill, the companion book written by Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright about young enlisted Marines in the same Recon platoon, is easily the best book available on the first part of the war in Iraq. It does not give a clear picture of the overall strategy or the way that the war played out on a macro-level. It is not intended to. Rather, One Bullet Away is meant to put the reader into the mind of a young Marine officer at war. For its ability to give the reader a sense of the lives of individual Marines on the ground in combat, this book is unsurpassed.

This is a no frills account of a marine officer in the making four years before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. U.S. Marine captain Nathaniel Fick qualified for Marine Officer Candidates School (OCS) in Quantico, Virginia, by completing a three mile run in under 18 minutes, twenty dead-hang pull-ups followed by one hundred crunches in under two minutes.

Following a combat tour in Afghanistan, Mr. Fick joined the elite Recon Marine division, a feat accomplished by only one percent of marines. At the conclusion of his training, he led a force of twenty two marines in the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion to war at the opening bell of combat in Iraq.

Mr. Fick ended his stint in the military upon his return from Iraq because he was too deeply affected by the collateral damage inflicted on the innocent during war. Fick was eager for combat, and killing the enemy was of little consequence to him for a short period, but he had become a reluctant warrior. He couldn't stomach a career in killing people or witnessing the killing of the men he was in charge of.

Nathaniel Fick is currently an MBA candidate at the Harvard School of Business, proving himself again as one of the few, the proud.

"One Bullet Away" lacks the climactic battles in David Bellavia's "House to House" and Marcus Luttrell's "Lone Survivor", but it more than makes up for it with depth. Mr. Fick's story resembles less the breakneck speed battles of "Saving Private Ryan", and more the slow, methodical and philosophical approach of "The Thin Red Line".

Captain Fick is refreshingtly candid about his experience in the military, and provides a well balanced view of life in the Marine Corps before, during and after combat.

One Bullet Away is Fick's memoir of his time after joining the Marine Corp in the summer of 1998 up through 9/11 his units deployment to Afghanistan and then Iraq.

If you ever wanted to know what it takes to be a leader, Fick tells you in no uncertain terms. It isn't candy coated or prettied up, he is honest and straightforward. Qualities it takes to be a truly effective leader. As he finds out on the first day: "Honor, courage, and commitment are the Marines' core values. [...] If you can't be honest at OCS, how can the Corps trust you to lead men in combat?"

And lead men Captain Fick does, as a Weapon's Platoon Lieutenant on his first day in the Fleets and into Afghanistan after 9/11 and then in Recon where he leads his men into Iraq on invasion day. Fick's accounts are gritty and honest. You can feel the frustration that only military life can bring out in someone and at the same time you can feel the immense pride that comes with accomplishing something important.

In the end, Fick leaves the Corp he feels he was destined to belong to and concludes:



In June, one year after coming home from Iraq, I dragged a childhood friend to the Civil War battlefield in Antietam in western Maryland. I wanted to walk the ground. Among the split-rail fences and restored cannons, I saw RPGs and fedayeen. Where would I have put my machine guns to defend the Cornfield? How would Hitman two have assaulted the Bloody Lane?

The sun was warm on my arms, and bees buzzed through the tall grass as we meandered towards Burnside Bridge. There, on the afternoon of America's bloodiest day, troops made three unsuccessful attempts to cross Antietam Creek under withering fire. We stood at the center of the span with our hands on the stones.

"Was it a waste?" I asked.

"No," she replied. "They won, and Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. They freed the slaves, the way you freed the Afghans."

I didn't answer.

"Think about the women under the Taliban and the poor Iraqis under Saddam," she continued seizing a chance to change the subject. "You helped do so much good for so many people. Why can't you take comfort in that?"

Staring down at the water, I measured my words, running through a justification I'd given myself a thousand times before. The good was abstract. The good didn't feel as good as the bad felt bad. It wasn't the good that kept me up at night.

"You sound so unprincipled," she said, shaking her head. "Why can't you find peace in what you and your men sacrificed so much to do? Why can't you be proud?"

I took sixty-five men to war and brought sixty-four home. I gave them everything I had. Together, we passed the test. Fear didn't beat us. I hope life improves for the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, but that's not why we did it. We fought for each other.

I am proud.

And proud you should be Captain Fick.

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.

CAPT. Fick's memoir is a great read. You really feel like you know his men, and gain a great perspective on the Iraq war. It is a great example of leadership under pressure and being in the military, I recommend it to anyone that is or will be in the military. You come to realize some of the mistakes that were made early on in the war that came to be major problems that we are still dealing with today.

This is the best written book, especially about the Corps, that I have ever read. It is accurate, realistic, no bull blunt information, yet it is written as a story. Very stellar work. I couldn't put it down, literally. Any time I had some free time, this is what I did, and still do. Being one headed to OCS next summer (hopefully), this is a great read, preparing me for what is to come. As I could see in this book, MCRD is nothing compared to OCS and TBS. He covered OCS and his duty-time more than TBS, but all in all it was the most accurate and amazing book I've ever read, as stated above. If you plan to go to OCS, want to learn about it, or a military/USMC enthusiast, I suggest you get this book. STELLAR!!!!

Fick gives an account of his entry into the Marine Corps as an idealistic young man yearning for a true challenge that would test his inner strength. His decision to become a Marine occurs prior to 9/11, the event that would turn what he thought would be a peace time stint in the Corps into an obligation to participate in campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. The bulk of his tale is centered around the process of actually becoming a Marine officer -- all of the physical endurance and discipline training that you would expect if you've ever seen pop culture movie treatments of the topic. This is arguably the more interesting part of the book in some ways.

Eventually, owing to unforeseen world events, Fick pulls service in Afghanistan but is largely on the periphery of the action which resulted in the overthrow of the Taliban. He's honest about his piece of the action in Afghanistan and doesn't try to inflate it. He makes it clear that what his platoon does there is mysterious even to them inasmuch as his men don't have the big picture of what's going on in the country or how their actions fit into it; they simply do what they're told to do. After a brief, but physically demanding time in Afghanistan, he next sees service in Iraq as the sole leader of a platoon -- a part of the initial invasion force. There, he deals with assorted fire fights en route to Baghdad, followed by humanitarian and recon missions there during the first days of the occupation. It's immediately apparent to Fick that post-invasion planning is an afterthought. Fortunately for Fick, he and his platoon are quickly flown out of the middle east when it's decided to turn occupation duties over to the Army. Th platoon somehow manages to escape their adventure without losing a single man.

This is not a political book, nor a deeply philosophical one, though Fick does occasionally devote a few sentences to the absurdity of war and the difficulty of following orders from immediate superiors who demonstrate questionable judgement. If he has a viewpoint on the politics of the Iraq invasion, he never really shares it. One Bullet Away is a straight ahead account of what it's like to join the Marines, be indoctrinated into their culture and serve in conflict. No more, no less.

The author, Captain Nathaniel Fick, does an exceptional job of describing his life as an officer of Marines. The book covers his entire career. It starts with his bus ride to Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Quantico, Virginia and ends with his resignation from the Corps. In between, he describes his deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. Although the book is non-fiction, it reads like a novel. The book's fast pace is a testament to the author's excellent writing skills. No doubt, some credit can be given to the English Department at Dartmouth, where he earned his undergraduate degree. The book is 369 pages long and is broken into three parts. Unfortunately, it does not contain an index.

His description of Marine training at OCS and The Basic School are uncannily similar to this reviewer's experience. Marine Corps training has clearly stood the test of time and remains basically unchanged since the 1980s. Given the accuracy of his training narrative, this reviewer assumed his combat descriptions to be equally accurate.

The author provides an excellent first hand account of his platoon's activities in both theaters of war. He also provides a balanced account of the people around him, both good and bad. For example, he talks about a company commander who is a nice guy but a poor tactician. The author could have easily ridiculed this Captain. Instead, he points out that no one is just black and white. He also talks about General James Mattis, who spent time talking to enlisted Marines in their fighting hole. The author holds General Mattis up as a true leader.

Capt. Fick provides a fascinating view of civilian society at the end of the book when he resigns from the Corps. The author's friends and family appear to think that he has matured and is now correcting his earlier mistake of joining the Marines. This short chapter says a great deal about society where monetary success, not honor and devotion to country, are viewed as the ultimate achievement.

The book provides an address for the author's personal web-site. If interested, the reader can peruse some of the author's various newspaper articles. His articles tend to expand on the growing divide between American society and the military. He addresses such topics as the unfeasibility of a future draft or the misconception that minorities are bearing an unfair burden in today's military.

Bottom line: Capt. Fick does a great job of describing the noble characteristics of his Marines in combat. His descriptions are unbiased and very accurate. This is a fascinating study of a front line Marine unit at war. It is fast paced, easy to read, and will hold the reader in place until the end.

When I was a younger man, fresh out of college and searching for my life's path, I felt exactly like Capt. Fick when I myself considered entering the Marine Corp OCS. Various circumstances steered me in a different direction. Now in my mid 40's, I have often considered what might have been. Reading One Bullet Away provided me with a glimpse and gave me some perspective that a military career isn't always the ideal I've often thought it would have been. In reading this book I felt that I was right beside NF through his rigorous training, frustrations with orders that make little or no sense and gut wrenching decisions that are a large part of being a military leader.

I have never been under fire myself. I feel that, if forced to, I could kill in order to defend my own life or the lives of others, but in a combat zone those decisions aren't always black and white. Sometimes innocents are hurt and the men on the front lines are forced to confront that. I know that military doctrine dictates that the mission must take precedent over all, but if approached by a family carrying their daughter that you know was wounded by your own forces, I don't think I would have been able to act any differently than Capt. Fick did.

War truly is hell. Thank you Captain for your service and for writing this book. God bless all of those who serve and have served.

Fascinating book detailing the training and life in combat of an elite Marine as seen throught the eyes of a university classics graduate. I could not put the book down and it has changed my outlook on what our soldiers in the Middle East are going through!

This book was written very well and really made the reader feel like they were there, going through training and riding through the deserts of Iraqi. I never wanted to put the book down.

That pretty much sums it up.
If anybody ever tried to eat those saltine crackers from an MRE in under a minute without water then this is what this book feels like.
#1 I have never met a soldier or a marine without a sense of humor, but it looks like the author is the first exception to this rule.
#2 I would consider myself an idealistic "country and honor" person but Fick's nonstop textbook propaganda tirades made me roll my eyes through some chapters. His OWN opinion and perception on the events barely show sometimes and it appears that he is scared to show what he really thinks or even say a word thats inappropriate at a family dinner table. Come on, man! Haven't you trained with regular guys, and shat right next to them in the field? Loosen up! This is not a book for kindergarten. You're not in front of your chain of command or giving some motivational speech in front of your platoon.

Want to know the what it's like to be an junior Officer? The loneliness, the NCO's you rely on, the men, the idiots above you? Read this. A simultaneous must read is Evan Wright's Generation Kill. Identical time amd place seen from two very different perspectives.

In addition to excellent content, this is a very readable book and Nate Fick compactly explains things about military life and the warrior ethos that aren't well understood outside the military. A couple page glossary of military abbreviations would be a welcome addition though.

Most of my Amazon reviews deal with grilling, but I felt compelled to give my opinion. Nathaniel Fick is welcome to dine on steak or some pulled pork at my home any time he visits Bloomington, Indiana. The book is wonderfully written. He skillfully balanced descriptions of the people, events and emotions he encountered during his tour with the USMC. He did not rely on the tool of describing the technology of modern warfare to impress his reader. He is no Tom Clancy and I found this to be refreshing.

I went to his website and read an number of articles and reviews he has published since completing this book. He makes a number of astute observations on politics, the war, and the state of our nation. I hope to see more from him soon.

Enough praise has already been heaped and another 5-star review won't change a 5-star average. A few hopefully new comments:

- Frick allows critical details of his personal life to trickle out in undeclared intimations; e.g., he's probably Catholic and probably had a girlfriend. The story would have meant more to me if I'd known exactly who was speaking. The narrative does a decently indirect job of this, but I wonder how many scenes were left out that could have showed us more of who he is?

- Why does that matter? Well, not to be a jaded 40-something who grew up in a very political environment, but I cannot imagine a clearer statement of intent to run for office. Let's see... Military hero? Check. Exposure of sensitive side? Check. Willingness to put in the hours? Check. Ability to lead others? Check. Ability to turn a phrase? Check. Empathy with the common man? Check.

I have nothing against the idea and I'd probably even vote for him. I'm just surprised nobody else has noticed this... And perhaps the explanation to my first comment is cleared up by the observation of the second.

Nathaniel Fick tells an interesting story from an unusual perspective. How many books can you find written about the experiences of a Marine Corps officer in war? A fair handful. How many such books can you find written by an articulate liberal arts major? Maybe just this one.

The author's educated perspective on the Marine Corps perfectly underlines the amazing strengths and the maddening weakness of the Marine Corps, depicting that certain je ne sais quois those in or around the Marines understand and critics never see.
He manages to illustrate his respect for the Marines and his mission while still exposing the stupidity of military bureaucracy, showing clearly that the good or evil possible with our military forces can really boil down to a good person or a fundamentally bad person in charge of a lowly combat platoon.
If you want a thoughtful perspective on the USMC or the opening days of the war in Iraq, this book is up your alley.

This non-fiction book clearly characterizes the US Marine Corps Infantry Officer life from training at Quantico to fighting in the Middle East. Definitely a good book for anyone interested in the military.

One Bullet Away is a good readable account of what daily life is really like for a Marine Officer in a combat zone.

Although slow to start with, the book gradually builds with pace and interest telling the story of Fick's combat experience in both Afghanistan and Iraq - which makes for a good read.

I particularly liked his honesty in telling the truth about his military failures and how he battled to overcome the daily friction of combat.

All in all, a good read.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. It is a comprehensive and incredibly well written account of one lieutenants experiences in the Marines. Melding into his narrative a fascinating world view and bits of introspection, Fick has written an instant classic. I've reread the book 4 times now.

My Dad, a retired colonel (A-4s forever!) in the US Marine Corps, loaned me this book a month or two ago. I'd seen Fick on television doing an interview and had mentioned it to him and lo and behold, he'd not only read his book, but had a copy of it lying around. Dads rule! I don't read a lot of military non-fiction, and I was a little worried that, as a result, I might not really "get" a lot of this book (I don't speak the lingo very well, despite the fact I grew up surrounded by it), but Fick is such a terrific writer that as soon as I picked this up, I had a really hard time putting it down again.

It begins with a young Nathaniel deciding to join the Marines and being sent to Officer Candidate School, followed quickly by The Basic School when Fick is assigned to the infantry (a coveted position). Most of his education involves repetitive and sometimes seemingly-useless drills (like learning how to be a paratrooper, even though it's almost certain he'll never need that skill), as well as the kind of hazing he says he really only expected from college fraternities, not the more "noble" or "serious" Marine Corps he'd heard about as a civilian. But though he begins with complaints about the training, what he discovers later on is that that incessant drilling is what, in a nutshell, saves Marines' lives in combat.

After finishing his education, Fick is quickly put in charge of a squad of Marines and, as 9/11 has just taken place, sent off to Afghanistan, and then eventually to Iraq. Most of the war sequences focus on Fick's frustration at not getting to fight (or, even worse, having to fight his own commanders in order to get things done he feels are important, like saving the lives of two civilian boys accidentally shot by his Marines), his confusion over orders that make little sense to him, and his intense desire to keep his Marines safe and get them back home "physiologically and psychologically sound." But the more he's put into stressful or life-threatening situations, the more he comes to understand and value what it is his leaders have taught him. As he says himself at one point, "Marine training is essentially a psychological battle against the instinct of self-preservation." Instead of giving in to urges to panic or flee like the rest of us probably would when we suddenly find ourselves under attack, Fick's training clicks into place automatically, like a robot running through a sequence of if/then commands, and it's that ingrained training that saves not only his life over and over in the field, but the lives of his subordinate Marines as well.

This book is one of the more complicated military memoirs I've read -- by comparison, Anthony Swofford's Jarhead is almost simplistic in its focus on Marine Corps culture and swear words. Instead of writing a book about the Marines Fick encounters themselves, he instead focuses more on what it takes to be an intelligent leader in command of a group of soldiers. He begins to realize that while honor and valor are vital in war, there's a lot to be said for careful thought and reasoned logic as well -- two things he found frustratingly lacking in some of his own commanders at times. That said, Fick is extremely humble -- he's a listener and observer more than an opiner, and his descriptions of the complexity of fighting in Iraq, a war where soldiers seem to spend more time doing civic duties than actual fighting, was poignant, intelligent, and extremely balanced, as well as, to be honest, pretty professionally unapologetic.

Overall, while I did find some of this book a bit over my head, Fick does an excellent job at making the vast majority of it extremely accessible to the layperson. He's an articulate and eloquent writer, with a real knack for storytelling. I was both fascinated and impressed by this book, and I really hope that Fick is hard at work at more. I definitely recommend this to anybody who is interested in the current situation in Iraq, or in what it takes to be a member of one of the most elite and respected fighting forces in the world, the United States Marine Corps. Ooh-rah!

Very well written and totally honest, which wasn't always the case with the writings of earlier wars.

The thing is though, not much happens. Thus, if you liked the movie Jarhead with its focon on the banality of war, you should like this one. I need more. Don't get me wrong, it's just that I prefer the more unique stories of any conflict. Ambush Alley for example has a lot more going for it storywise, although Fick is a much better writer.

After graduating from Dartmouth in 1999 with a degree in Classics and Government, Fick decided to join the Marines as an officer. Fick had been most impressed in that the Marines offered him not "benefits," as the other branches of service had, but only spoke of "duty," "honor," and "service to country" as reasons to join. He was hooked.

As with all Americans, Fick remembers where he was on September 11, 2001. In his case, he was on board a ship in the Pacific. Fick recounts how he was with some of the first units sent to Afghanistan to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban. After his return, he was posted to a reconnaissance unit. It was with this unit that Fick spearheaded the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Fick likes to repeat in public where a man in his unit, a former car repo man, called the invasion "a three-week drive-by shooting."

During the presentation I saw, Fick was asked how his book was published. He explained that when he came back from Iraq he simply decided to write his experiences down as something to hand down to his own children and grandchildren. He then decided to try and publish his memoir, making two dozen copies and sending them off to publishers without an agent. Only two sent back a reply--both rejections--but one suggested an agent. Fick contacted that person, who told him how to rewrite the book. His book was accepted and now is virtually required reading by the Marine Corps.

Asked about the future for American forces in Iraq, Fick believed that the strategy (when I saw him in 2006) of protecting the borders was correct.

There is also a serious issue with culture and how troops deal with it, as recounted in the book. Fick told how his unit was at first welcomed by an Iraqi village. He then noted that the villagers were stand-offish and did not seem too happy with the Marines in the village. When he asked what the problem was, the Iraqis stated they were sure the Marines were able to "look at their women" through their sunglasses. Fick then gave his to the man to look through. "Do you know what the Iraqi said to me?" Fick stated. "How do you turn these glasses on?" The only solution was for the Marines not to wear sunglasses, which eased the tensions in the village.

One aspect in the book that was not known to me was the Sharwarnas. This was a tribe of older men who had fought in the Iraq-Iran War and were in their forties. They fought with the Marines and Fick found them enjoyable. They have been in the news recently, as the Shias are now refusing to work with them.

I also asked Fick after the lecture about his stories about Mish, the Kuwati translator. He just shook his head in disgust. Throughout the book you can see that Mish just can't be controlled; there is even a photo in the book of Mish extorting cigarrettes from an Iraq car. I told Fick about our translator in Vietnam being arrested as a Viet Cong agent. She had been recommended by a very well-connected female operator, nicknamed "Tiger," who was the darling of the American generals. I met her a number of times, people claimed she was "cute," but she was just not my type. Fick said such problems required that an American linguist had to be present at some level as a sort of supervisor.

Fick left the Marines a captain in 2003. He is currently enrolled at Harvard, pursuing an MBA at the Harvard Business School after having received his MA in International Security Policy at Harvard's John F Kennedy School of Government. I am sure we will be hearing more from Mr. Fick in the future.

I couldn't put this book down. It gives a fascinating account of Fick's progression through his career to become a Recon platoon leader. More importantly it shows his development as a combat leader and as a thoughtful professional. Exceptionally well written.

I bought this book after reading the first chapter online. In it, he describes the Marine Corps' Officer Candidates' School with unerring accuracy. I've been there, and his descriptions of it are dead-on and bring back many memories. However, I can't remember any of the book past that.

For a memoir, I didn't learn much about the author. He went to Dartmouth. Then he went to war. Then he came home. Finally he wrote a book. And what a book it was: it's average. There are books that stand up head-and-shoulders above the rest, like "Generation Kill" and "Jarhead"

Say what you will about "Jarhead", but the story was compelling and the narrative engrossing. Jarhead's like a secret dish: some like it, some think it's too spicy, etc. "One Bullet Away" is more like vanilla ice cream. Filling and good-testing, but it won't stick in your mind. It takes a middle-of-the-road position on just about everything, and the author doesn't seem to have very many opinions about what he did.

This is an excellent book for anyone who knows someone who has served, or for those wanting an honest look into Iraq and Afghanistan. Fick does an excellent job explaining not only what happened, but the thoughts and feelings. The book provides a real parallel to the training experiences described in Starship Troopers. It gave me a great new perspective on while Iraq hasn't gone as planned also.

Having always been interested in the military, especially the Marine Corps, I thought that this book would be interesting. It gives a very realistic first hand look at a Dartmouth College graduate that decided to go through Officers Candidates School to become a Marine 2nd Lieutenant. Upon completing OCS, he then embarked on deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq before leaving the Marines. This book gives one a good understanding of real combat and real combat decisions, both good and bad. It shows how our military leaders still make mistakes and how the strong bonds form between members of a platoon that have endured the hardships of combat together. I enjoyed this book very much.

Dartmouth grad Nathaniel Fick has made one of the most significant contributions to 21st century war literature available today. Written from the "boots-on-the-ground" perspective, Fick doesn't worry about the political right or wrong about the orders to engage in combat - he's too occupied with leading his men, calling for fire, digging a foxhole, and dealing with the results of incompetent leadership decisions. Fick describes his mid-college decision to try out for the Marine Officer Corps - while his classmates are sipping mimosas and talking bad about their country, he gets a haircut and goes through Basic Officer Training. Following graduation, Fick finds himself on a Pacific cruise where instead of R & R he's on a helicopter into Afghanistan. Soon after he's deployed to Iraq, where things become far more complicated than combat in the Hindu Kush. While there are no real suprises in Fick's book, its a magnificent, well-written account of a young man who discovers something about himself through leading others in combat. Definitely a classic. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

Dartmouth grad Nathaniel Fick has made one of the most significant contributions to 21st century war literature available today. Written from the "boots-on-the-ground" perspective, Fick doesn't worry about the political right or wrong about the orders to engage in combat - he's too occupied with leading his men, calling for fire, digging a foxhole, and dealing with the results of incompetent leadership decisions. Fick describes his mid-college decision to try out for the Marine Officer Corps - while his classmates are sipping mimosas and talking bad about their country, he gets a haircut and goes through Basic Officer Training. Following graduation, Fick finds himself on a Pacific cruise where instead of R & R he's on a helicopter into Afghanistan. Soon after he's deployed to Iraq, where things become far more complicated than combat in the Hindu Kush. While there are no real suprises in Fick's book, its a magnificent, well-written account of a young man who discovers something about himself through leading others in combat. Definitely a classic. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

This book brought back many memories from my own Marine experiences, then built up layers of lucid insight into the current war on terror. Fick's work is powerful, engaging, and illuminating. Anyone with an interest in the campaigns currently underway in Iraq and Afghanistan will find this one hard to put down. For young folks considering the Marine Corps in their future, this is a definite "must read." Semper Fi!

This book is fantastic in regards to the military life and a profound understanding of military philosophy. It may not apply to civilians trying to understand the military. But I do recommend this book for reading.

Capt Fick represents his story with honor. As an 2x Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran, and a Marine, I can relate to this book very easily. It is a great read. Anyone in the Corps would be honored to have Capt. Flick at their platoon commander. He brings the situation as it is and was over there to life for the reader. He gives you a exceptionally accurate view of what the front line is like in Iraq. Anyone who reads will feel like they are right there with the Marines. The only way to get even closer is to Enlist in the United States Marine Corps and see it themselves. Semper Fidelis.
Corporal Peter Scott
USMC

My son decided to be a Marine in college this year and this book cemented his resolve to serve his country and be the best he can by being with the best. We both read this book twice as it was a road map for him and helpful to me to understand why my son feels the way he does. He couldn't decide what to do, whether to enlist or to go PLC. Believe it or not, my son contacted Nate Fick for advice, and more amazingly, Fick responded back with simple wisdom that didn't tell my son what to do, but guidance that shows Fick truely is who he wrote about in this book. This book and man has done more in his life through action than most even think about. This is a must read book for those thinking about serving our country and being a Marine, and for their families.

Another great find at a place that I am starting to think is the best little bookstore around - the Penn Station Bookstore at Newark Penn Station.

Anyhow, I was intrigued enough to buy Nathaniel Fick's book, One Bullet Away when I read the following - "I wanted to go on a great adventure, to prove myself, to serve my country. I wanted to do something so hard that no one could ever talk s*** to me. In Athens or Sparta, my decision would have been easy. I felt as if I had been born too late. There was no longer a place in the world for a young man who wanted to wear armor and slay dragons."

Like so many, I felt that urge a long time ago, but like so few, I didn't join the Marines. Fick did, and his experiences in peace time and in wartime, are described in detail and with great eloquance.

His peace time/war time training provides wonderful insights into the world of the military in general, and the Marines in particular. The reader is offered a glimpse of that world through Fick's eyes, and it becomes clear why the Marines consider themselves to be something like a Fraternity, rather than a social club. You also learn early on that they trained to be an extremely efffective fighting force. Fick worked his way through OCS, and a number of other training schools until he commanded a platoon in the 1st Recon Batallion.

His story is one of a man story converging with the events of history. He experienced 911 on a ship, and soon found himself in Afghanistan. Interesting that he did not experience combat there, much to his disappointment. Returning from Afghanistan he trained, and was later assigned to lead a platoon in the 1st Recon. It was then when he was shipped to Kuwait, and ultimately Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His position during O-IF was as interesting as his observations of OCS considering that 1st Recon was often times a step ahead of the tip of the spear as coalition forces moved to Bagdhad. In Iraq he saw combat, ultimately enough for him, to leave the marines.

A couple of observations -

This is as much about leadership as it is a book about someone's experiences. Throughout, Fick's responsibility to the men around him provides wonderful real life insight into what it means to lead, and have people look to you for that leadership.

Someone mentioned this in another review, but his growth from Dartmouth grad to US Marine, through Afghanistan and Iraq is a mesmerizing and certainly telling of the complexity and humanity of someone who volunteers for the military.

A Marine Platoon is an incredible, human, and lethal fighting force. I am glad I will never have to face one. But also, the tact and seriousness they approach their roles is certainly worthy to behold. They are not blind to killing, not immune from the psychological impact of warfare, and not distant from the concerns of the impact of war on civilians. They are asked to do much, and shoulder it all.

I can understand why the military is fond of an all volunteer army. As was the case with Fick, the people who are there, want to be there. And as someone commented to Fick, "You can't volunteer to go to war and then bitch about getting shot at."

Finally, we often take for granted that our fighting men and women are automatons, hell bent on killing. That is the farthest thing from the truth. I was actually struck at how reluctant they are to fire upon anything. Aside from an incredible fighting machine, the US Military should be known for it's restraint in combat.

For anyone looking to read about a young man's journey through the marines, and two military campaigns, this is certainly a great place to begin. Highly readable and insightful. Fick does a masterful job of putting the reader right next to him, whether it is working making it to the crucible, or wrestling with the weighty responsibility of making life and death decisions that impact those you are responsible for.

My hat goes off to Fick, his fellow marines, and all those serving.

Mr. Fick offers the real deal. An incredible story and synopsis of life as a young Marine officer. Semper Fi.

Mr.Fick is a fine example of our best young men in America. He lead his men with concern and care, he did his duty as he had learned in the Corp. and he remained a human being under some of the hardest situations. He wrote well in a understandable way that even men that never served can grasp. His story is so true to men over that past half century and maybe more. When your time is up it is hard to remain. Your fellow warriors are like family but when you think of some of the leadership you have been under you realize the only place is the outside. If we could break up that old boy type of leaders we may be able to retain real men like Mr Fick. It is the finest book I have read on military life and war in a long time. I highly recommend it.

This book isn't about the Marine Corps. It's about Marines. Capt. Fick shows what it takes to be a leader of Marines in the crazy world we live in. One minute, his platoon is fighting for their lives and next, they're giving away their food and water to starving children. The enemy is everywhere and nowhere and everyone has their own agenda, from the top brass, to the civilian population to the enemy soldiers.

This is the kind of book that everyone can take something away from. If you have a son or daughter thinking about a stint in the military, this is something you can read together. It shows that there is still honor in the U.S. military.