I have extremely enjoyed reading One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer by Nathaniel Fick. It tells the author's story of becoming a Marine officer and his career as one. The book starts with his training to become a Marine and the preceding schools that led him to becoming an infantrymen and eventually a commander. He served as a platoon commander during the initial terrorist attacks of 9/11 and he describes his efforts against the terrorist groups. He eventually earns his way to the most elite group, the Recon Marines, and also describes his efforts with them.

Along with great content, the book allows the reader to really delve into the book and get in touch with the author. This is because it is written similar to that of a journal which enables the reader to have a first-person perspective into Fick's journey and the emotions he expressed along the way. The book remains up-tempo with its short chapters (each around 12 pages) so it holds the reader's attention.

As previously mentioned, the author did a superb job of enabling the reader to feel his emotions. This also allows the reader to have a good understanding of his relationship with his teachers and comrades. One of his strongest relationships was with one of his leaders Captain Whitmer. Nathaniel Fick learned a lot from him but the most impactful quote also came from him. Captain Whitmer, while training Fick and his fellow Marines before their first mission, stated "Any one of you is one bullet away from commanding this company." This is a great mindset to have because it urges the soldiers to train their hardest not for themselves but for their platoon because they never know when it's going to be their time to lead their men. I believe this is also where the author got his title.

While I extremely enjoyed reading the book, there were still aspects that I disliked. As a commander, there are several different things Fick has to look over and all of these things have specific names. With all these terms, the Marines use several different acronyms to communicate more efficiently. These Marines have spent countless hours training and are very familiar with the terms so it comes as a second language to them. However, most of the readers didn't receive that training or don't have the familiarity with those terms. This makes it difficult to follow the book at times because the author will switch from acronym to acronym yet the reader doesn't fully comprehend what the author is discussing at that moment.

An important thing that I have learned after reading this book is a concept of what it takes to be a leader. The author, Nathaniel Fick, describes several different situations where he is in a leadership role, in which he excels for his marines. In these situations his primary focus is on the safety of his platoon (troops) and the objective comes second. By putting his troops first, Nathan shows his troops the loyalty and respect he expects to receive from them. With this loyalty and respect, Fick's platoon is much more efficient since they are able to trust and communicate with one another which better enables them to complete their task. Nathan is able to be such a good leader because the qualities of a leader were ingrained in him throughout his training. Furthermore, he could relate to his fellow marines and understand their thinking because he trained at their positions before becoming a lieutenant. This is what leaders in any situation need to focus on in order to better help the people they are leading.

The types of readers that will enjoy it more than others are close family members of people serving in the military. They will enjoy it more because Marines develop a strong mental toughness that allows them to stay composed in dangerous situations but this toughness can also make it difficult to share their experiences. Even though every person's experiences are different, this book still gives the readers a better understanding of their loved one's time in training and can better communicate with them.

I strongly recommend the reading of this book. It gives insight on a subject that can get lost in our everyday lives and that is the effort these brave men and women demonstrate to keep us safe. People overlook the importance of our military because they have only known a way of life of freedom and protection but that is not a privilege everyone has. With the insight the book provides, people can greater appreciate our serving officers.