One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer | 
 enlarge | Author: Nathaniel C. Fick
Publisher: Mariner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  154 reviews
Sales Rank: 3029
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 0618773436
Dewey Decimal Number: 359.96092
EAN: 9780618773435
ASIN: 0618773436
Publication Date: September 7, 2006
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Product Description
If the Marines are "the few, the proud," Recon Marines are the fewest
and the proudest. Nathaniel Fick's career begins with a hellish summer
at Quantico, after his junior year at Dartmouth. He leads a platoon
in Afghanistan just after 9/11 and advances to the pinnacle?Recon?
two years later, on the eve of war with Iraq. His vast skill set puts him
in front of the front lines, leading twenty-two Marines into the deadliest
conflict since Vietnam. He vows to bring all his men home safely, and
to do so he'll need more than his top-flight education. Fick unveils the
process that makes Marine officers such legendary leaders and shares
his hard-won insights into the differences between military ideals and
military practice, which can mock those ideals.
In this deeply thoughtful account of what it's like to fight on
today's front lines, Fick reveals the crushing pressure on young leaders
in combat. Split-second decisions might have national consequences or
horrible immediate repercussions, but hesitation isn't an option. One
Bullet Away never shrinks from blunt truths, but ultimately it is an
inspiring account of mastering the art of war.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 149 more reviews...
 Outstanding piece of truth! September 30, 2008
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.
Well written book that goes the extra mile. September 28, 2008
The stories that get someone to a particular point or event in their lives are many times as important as the moment itself. Here is where Mr. Fick excels brilliantly, as he recounts to us the set of events that led him to this odd choice of work. Think about it he not only chose to become an infantry officer but rather went a step further and joined Marine Recon. Decisions like this aren't made lightly and are in essence a reflection of the complexity of the person who makes them. He shows this complexity in motion when he recounts the painful decisions that he had to make. He made the tough calls and put himself out on the ledge and I for one am glad that he was able to show how as Marines, we are not mindless imbeciles. We feel pain for all the others that suffer in this world needlessly as well. I am also in closing impressed by his depiction of his struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Blessings be onto all those that go through such tribulations and hopefully they in the end make the world a bit better for all of us.
 A sandwich with great bread and bland meat September 26, 2008
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.
 One Bullet Away September 24, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
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
Outstanding September 20, 2008
A very good book. Hats off to Fick and all the men and women serving in our military.
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