One Bullet Away

Nathaniel Fick was in the Marine Corps, during which time he was stationed in both Afghanistan and Iraq. In his book, One Bullet Away, Fick tells us about all of the things he experienced as a Marine officer.

Fick went to college before joining the Corps, a situation that people don't really consider. People think that the military is a way for young punks to straighten out their troubled lives, they rarely if ever consider the possibility of a college graduate student being in the military. Well Fick tells us that his decision wasn't all that hard to make. He remembered a time when his house was broken into when he was standing right there, and the burglars just looked at him and laughed when he tried to stop them. He says that he'll never forget the look his dad gave him. He joined the Marines to become a man,to discover who he was.

He takes us through the training he had to do to become an officer. To become an officer is a little different than becoming an enlisted Marine. First off the requirements are a lot more strict, the military doesn't want it's enlisted men to be in the hands of a bunch of dumbasses. Second the training is different. They learn how to lead men. Enlisted men spend their training being taught to follow orders and obey their seniors, not so with the officers. Yes they are taught to follow the orders of their seniors, but they are also taught to give orders, how to get the respect of their men, and to stay calm in the face of danger to give them confidence.

After completing training Fick was deployed on what was basically a practice tour. He sails with a company of men to get accumulated to commanding. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 happened during his deployment in the South Pacific, and his company was used as the first troops into Afghanistan so America could extract her revenge. He describes being proud that he was the one who got to retaliate against these men in the place of every American. He spent the remainder of his deployment on the ground in Afghanistan and when he returned home he transferred to First Recon.

The majority of his book is based on his experiences while commanding in First Reconnaissance division. He conveys the stupidity of the way things were handled, the incompetence of the senior officers, and the overall experience of combat. Most of the problem lay in that the senior officers were there. Normally in Recon the highest ranking man on the ground are the sergeants, these teams within the platoons are trained and able to function as independent killing machines, and when you throw the seniors in there with them it inhibits the ability of the team.

Fick gives us all of the details of combat and of his experiences in Iraq, good and bad. It's an excellent book and I recommend it to all who want to learn more about what we're doing over there. He lays out the military hierarchy in a way that is easily understood by even those who are completely ignorant of the military. Have fun reading it!