One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer

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.