The History Book Club discussion

by Nathaniel Fick

Start Date will be January 31, 2011 (or some time during that week) and ending on February 28, 2011. We always start on Mondays so this will work out well.

Remember this is a spoiler thread and anything can be discussed in any order unless you determine how you will read this book and your timeline for discussion of different chapters. We allow each buddy read leader to set things up at their own pace.

Remember, if you cite any other book except for the discussion book for which this thread is named you must do full citations of both the book and the authors.

Good luck and have fun.

Bentley

I'm in! I'm looking forward to this read having just finished reading the book and watching the HBO mini series of Generation Kill.

by Evan Wright.

Hi Tasha, good to see you here, it should be fun with you, Terri and Kristi discussing this book along with anyone else who decides to join up.

Hey there! Sorry I didn't catchup earlier with this, my computer had a nasty virus. Can't wait to read with everyone!! I'm going to check it out on Friday and hopedully keep up with Aussie Rick! Whoot!

Damn nasty virus'. I hope you are virus free now Kristi. :-)

I am looking forward to the buddy read also. Especially since I am not really into my current read.

Great to have you along for the read, guys.

If anyone else is interested in joining us..you are most welcome. Don't be shy. :-)

Here are a few independent reviews of "One Bullet Away" that may entice others to join the buddy read in February:

by Nathaniel Fick
Reviews:
“A memorable cinematic passage is contained in the movie Full Metal Jacket, wherein a new squad of marine recruits arrives at boot camp and is immediately dressed down, singly and collectively, by their drill sergeant. The episode is so dramatic that one almost forgets that the paramount reason behind the rough treatment afforded to the recruits is to decondition their self-preservative reflexive actions for battle, while simultaneously making them tough enough and hard enough to be still standing at the end of the day. ONE BULLET AWAY: The Making of a Marine Officer, completes the circle, and thensome.

Author Nathaniel Fick is among the best of the best, a former captain in the United States Marine Corps First Recon Battalion. ONE BULLET AWAY is Fick's unflinching account of his recruitment into the Marines, his advancement, and his service on the fronts of Afghanistan and Iraq. He gives the reader an up-close and personal view of what it is like to be a soldier. One element of military training that is often lost upon the layman is the importance of the history of warfare and of soldiering; as Fick notes here, marines learn from the mistakes of those who have gone ahead. Every marine accordingly has an obligation to ensure that the sacrifices of those who have preceded them are not in vain.

Fick's account of his role in modern warfare, which constitutes the balance of the book, is anecdotal at its most interesting, ranging from accounts of bravery, courage, and compassion to the occasional stupidity of commanders for whom the battlefield is more of a concept than reality. One comes away from this memoir with the feeling that, as with most things, it is miraculous when any project proceeds to completion successfully. In ONE BULLET AWAY, however, the stakes are much higher.

Fick elected to forego re-upping with the Marines, an understandable decision considering the events recounted here and their personal aftermath for him. ONE BULLET AWAY is a highly readable, personal memoir that rings and resonates with bravery, clarity and truth.” - Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub (Bookreporter.com)



“When I first grabbed this title, I wasn’t really sure what to make of it. Described as the "making of a Marine officer" I had some doubts whether it would be a self-serving autobiography or something more. Thankfully, this book becomes much more as it follows the career of Nathaniel Fick from his first day of Officer Candidate School in 1998; to his leadership of a heavy weapons platoon and a recon platoon; to his decision to finally leave the Corps after liberating Iraq.

There are three components of his story; Officer Candidate School and other training courses; his deployment to Afghanistan; his deployment to Iraq. All three were equally interesting to digest. Fortunately, the section on training did not dwell on the suffering and needless abuses at the hands of over-zealous instructors a la Full Metal Jacket. He describes many aspects of the pain and confusing routines he had to endure, but he puts things into the perspective of a seasoned Marine officer looking back through time (Q. Why did we have to learn to put our belt buckles on at just the precise angle? A. The attention to detail will keep me from killing my Marines in combat!). Fick survives a host of advanced training programs, and can safely be described as one of the best of the best in the US fighting forces. While still not a combat veteran, Fick in no way resembles the hapless LT Gorman from the movie Aliens.

Now, imagine you are a fresh lieutenant, you’ve got your first command, you are just settling into routine aboard a Marine amphibious ship parked in an Australian port – when 9/11 rains down upon you. The sense of anticipation and stress of being on the very tip of the sword that would strike back is palpable in Fick’s writing. Some chaotic encounters with the Taliban ensue in the bleak desert near Khandahar, Afghanistan. Fick experiences the first sights of death and destruction which accompanies any war — and he sees the gruesome results of heavy laser-guided bombs. He begins to see just how lethal modern war really is. Fick and his men do their jobs but you can begin to see the scars war inflicts upon even the best soldiers.

The sections on the Iraqi deployment are especially timely given the current state of affairs over there and Fick gives us a glimpse at those first critical days after Iraqi liberation as the country spiraled into chaos, looting, and worse. In one snapshot immediately after major combat ended, Fick’s recon platoon is holed up in a palm grove for the night when they witness an amazing display of tracers dancing throughout their field of vision. Iraqis shooting Iraqis. Looters shooting homeowners. Homeowners shooting looters. None of it directed at the Americans. While the war seemed to be over, there was much killing waiting to be done.

Ultimately, we learn that the challenge of a Marine officer is doing his job while keeping his men alive; "Don’t get your Marines killed in combat!" However, as with every army throughout history, there are good leaders and there are bad leaders. As a good leader, Fick is often ordered into situations he knows to be wrong; driving doorless HUMVEES through hostile towns; leaving wounded children to chaos and without hope of rescue; watching as his superiors did insane things "to get in on the action" such as trying to call artillery strikes on his own men! Fick, ever concerned for the safety and well-being of his men, does his duty but often has issues with superiors who seem less than concerned about sending him on missions that were needlessly dangerous or just plain wrong. This leads to some introspection on whether he is cut out for a career in the Corps. His final decision and the reasoning behind it ties the whole book together and helps us assemble the final pieces — not just about the making of a Marine officer but also that of an honorable man.

Great writing and great storytelling. This book is well worth your time.” - Armchair General Magazine



“There are few books by young infantry platoon commanders that provide valuable personal insights into combat leadership and decision-making at that level of command in modern war. Nathan Fick’s One Bullet Away is one of them. The book is a very honest, personal and easy to read story of his life in the United States Marine Corps during the 1998- 2003 period. He comes across as a mature, well-educated and thoughtful young man, who is motivated to join the United States Marine Corps in order to meet personal needs for challenge and adventure and to prove himself as a warrior. Fick was motivated to become a Marine Corps officer (and warrior) while majoring in the classics at Dartmouth College.

One Bullet Away begins by covering his training to become an officer and his subsequent specialist training courses. It then describes his deployments as a weapons platoon commander on operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan during 2001-02, and as a reconnaissance platoon commander in Iraq during the first half of 2003. The title One Bullet Away is a graphic reminder that junior leaders involved in close combat on the battlefield are only one bullet away from the possibilities of death, life-altering wounds or promotion to replace a lost colleague. The descriptive writing clearly indicates that Fick is sensitive, has a sense of perspective and can think deeply about what his experiences mean. His account also demonstrates that he has the necessary confidence, motivation and combination of physical and mental toughness needed by a young man who has to lead others in combat. Being the commander of first a weapons platoon and then a reconnaissance platoon, rather than a rifle platoon, it appears that Lieutenant Fick was somewhat blessed in commanding very experienced non-commissioned officers and highly motivated soldiers. They had generally good morale and the can-do attitude that avoids most of the leadership problems normally confronting young rifle platoon commanders.

It is Fick’s sensitive and thoughtful nature, together with his sense of personal achievement, that eventually leads him to decide to resign from the Marine Corps in 2003, following his tour of duty in Iraq and promotion to captain. Interestingly, the officer who replaces him is killed in action in Iraq on a subsequent tour of duty. In recent times the terms ‘complex warfighting’, ‘threeblock war’ and ‘strategic corporal’, ‘have become trendy concepts to describe the way armies have to operate and fight on contemporary and future battlefields. One Bullet Away takes us past this terminology and into the real world of the ‘strategic subaltern’, dealing with the realities and problems faced daily by platoon commanders during combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. His graphic accounts explore the human aspects of close combat, including being shot at; carrying out security operations; actually fighting ‘the three-block war’ in an urban environment; and commanding a mounted infantry reconnaissance platoon on mobile operations in Iraq.

Fick’s descriptions and observations include his thoughts concerning certain battlefield decisions made by his immediate superiors. He felt they sometimes appeared to have little empathy with the situations actually facing his platoon and relied on rank rather than leadership to impose their decisions. Fick considers such unsatisfactory decisions constrained his ability to effectively plan and command his platoon’s operations. It would be interesting to hear the probably contrasting view from his commanders at the time.

The situations Fick describes, especially concerning real ‘three-block war’, should be of considerable interest to military leaders at all levels in all modern armies. In Iraq, for example, Fick commanded his platoon on dispersed, mobile, operations often under tight time constraints. Radio communications were extensively used to direct his operations and by him to attempt to clarify his orders. At times, having drawn the attention of his superiors to the situations his platoon confronted, Fick believed he was faced as a commander with making on-the-spot decisions that risked contradicting overall US national aims and ethics. An obvious question arises. Fick comes across as a highly educated, well-trained, motivated, thoughtful and competent ‘strategic subaltern’. If he had problems getting the message across to his immediate superiors during complex warfighting on a net-worked battlefield, how would our military systems and our ‘strategic corporals’ cope in similar situations in the future? We should avoid the easy temptation of believing that our situation would be different just because we are Australians.

While this is a book that can be read by all who have a deep interest in the complexities of modern land warfare, its real worth lies in its value for junior officers. One Bullet Away should be read by those who are or aspire to be junior combat arms officers. It should also be read by those who train and lead them. To my knowledge the closest Australian equivalents to this book are Pat Beale’s Operation Orders, covering his platoon and battalion command experiences during Confrontation in Borneo and Vietnam respectively, and Gary McKay’s In Good Company about his time as a platoon commander in the latter war.” - Reviewed by Ian Kuring (Australian Military Historian)

Thanks for that, Rick.

Now, everyone, I wanted to mention the new spoiler feature that 카지노싸이트 has recently given to us.

I will show an example;

Chapter 24: Do not read if you have not read Chapter 24
(view spoiler)[then you put your spoiler into the enclosed bracketing and the spoiler is hidden (hide spoiler)]

To do this kind of spoiler use these steps:

Step 1. enclose/bracket the word spoiler in forward and back arrows; < >

Step 2. write your spoiler in

Step 3. enclose the word /spoiler in arrows as above, BUT NOTE the forward slash in front of the word. You must put that forward slash in.

If you don't want to use this feature, then can you please mark spoilers with asterisks like this;

****SPOILER CHAPTER 24 - do not read if you have not read CH24
And then type in your comments and finish with an asterisk line
**

Great feature Terri.

Thanks for all the info Terri and Aussie Rick! This is going to be a great read!

Hi Terri, thanks for the information on the spoiler function, very handy!

Wow, I had a crazy busy weekend taking a Wilderness First Aid class, so I haven't gotten this picked up yet, I'm planning on doing it tomorrow at my lunch hour...then I'll be off abd running!

Hi Kristi, sounds like an interesting course! Don't worry, we won't start without you :)

Sorry I am late to the thread. Should have posted earlier, but I have been out all day.

Have quite a few comments to make about the book, although, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to post them. Up to approx page 25 and about to zonk out and go to sleep as my day has been very busy.

Hope you passed your Wilderness Class with flying colours, Kristi.
I suppose you're all ready now to treat yourself, if you happen to survive a fall off a precipice or a near fatal bear attack. :-)

I'd like to mention the comment from Nathaniel Fick's father on page 6 (English edition) when he told his parents he was joining the Marines:

"They were surprised but supportive. 'The Marines' my dad said, 'will teach you everything I love you too much to teach you'."

Aussie Rick, that comment stuck with me too. I'm enjoying it so far. I'm just about done chapter 4. I enjoyed reading about his transformation during his summer training at OCS from just someone getting thru training without being discharged to someone who 'got' what being in the marines means and striving to be the best at it.

I was really impressed with him in Generation Kill so am really interested in learning about the man behind name.

by Evan Wright

Hi Tasha, it was interesting to follow his transformation, the genesis of what all military establishments want - esprit de corps.

I missed what TBS stands for and can't find reference to it in the book. I'm new to all this military 'stuff' so maybe it is common knowledge?

Guys, you may want to use the spoiler technique described in message seven by Terri. Just put a header in like do not read if you have not read chapter four. That way everybody can participate on the one thread at their own pace and not have anything spoiled for them. Since you are just starting this journey.

Tasha in Marine speak:

TBS — The Basic School, the six month combat training school for new Marine officers

All,

This link may help those who are not acclimated to Marine speak:



The above link takes you to a site which is an alphabetical list of US Marine Corps acronyms and expressions.

Bentley, thanks so much for that link! I bookmarked it.

You are welcome Tasha.

Another favourite section of the book was in chapter two, page 12 (English edition), which reminded me of my own experience with PTI's (Physical Training Instructor's) when I joined the Army. I will use the spoiler feature here just in case:

(view spoiler)["The centerpiece of the PT field was a red wooden platform. Atop it, silhouetted against the rising sun, stood a British Royal Marine color sergeant. He was on exchange from the U.K. and clearly enjoyed beating platoons of aspiring American officers into shape. 'Ah, good morning, candidates. Your steady diet of Big Macs and Jerry Springer has surely prepared you for this morning's activities. Remember, nothing proves your effort to me like projectile vomiting'." (hide spoiler)]

I like how most armies have a very similar sense of humour!

I thought the first paragraph was one of the best beginning paragraphs I have ever read. There was something about the simplicity of it that made the book instantly attractive to me.
I like an author that can do that from the first lines.

Again guys, I am sorry I haven't a chance to elaborate on my thoughts concerning One Bullet Away. I thought I would have some time this morning. It was not to be. Today was a 6am start mustering cattle, eartagging cattle, then off to town to buy fencing materials and then the rest of the day checking cattle and then constructing a mobile stockyards so we can get cattle out of here to sale on Sunday. Late dinner, grabbed the computer to check emails and quickly visit this thread to give my weak excuses.
I can't even read right now I am exhausted.

I am going to try tomorrow to catch some time to get on 카지노싸이트 and make my buddy read comments here, but please forgive me if it doesn't happen. We have another full day ahead of us tomorrow.
:-(

Aussie Rick..good job with what you did with spoilers. I can see that folks including Terri are just starting out and with a one thread book discussion; folks will have to be careful and advise that there might be one and what the chapter is as you have done. Very thoughtful on your part. The feature you used is exceptional in these kind of circumstances.

As far as reading Terri's note...all I can say is wow Terri - I had to look where you were from to understand where the cattle muster was going on. What a job. So Terri is a fellow Australian. Terri, I looked at your profile and what a beautiful spot of the world you live in. You have quite a job to do. I hope you have a lot of help.

Aussie Rick is pitching in, so do not fear Terri.

Hi Terri, don't worry about it, people are only just getting started on the book so you won't be too far behind and can catch up. Running a farm is a lot of hard work and most people understand that and I'm glad its not me!

You are right about the first paragraph, draws you into the book doesn't it! Like Tasha I enjoyed reading the process of turning Nathaniel Fink from a college student to a USMC officer with a belief in the Corp and what he was doing.

I've started watching "Generation Kill" again so I can put Nathaniel's acount in perspective with his company and the conflict in Iraq.

For those of you who are interested, on Netflix you can watch the following:

The Marines
(2006) NR

This PBS documentary salutes the United States Marine Corps by examining what it takes to become a Marine and what it truly means to be one, outlining the rigorous training process that each recruit must endure to become a commissioned officer. Originally formed in 1775 as a naval infantry to guard the fledgling United States of America, the Corps has since evolved into a highly respected elite branch of the military.

Quite good and explains much and your author is one of the narrators.

Sounds like a pretty good documentary, lets see if it ever makes it to Australia!

I have always had the greatest respect for the Marines ever since reading about the battle for Tarawa during WW2.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Sounds like a pretty good documentary, lets see if it ever makes it to Australia!

I have always had the greatest respect for the Marines ever since reading about the battle for Tarawa during WW2."

If you have access to Netflix at any time; it can be played instantly in on line viewing. However, since it is a Public Broadcasting Service production; it certainly can be purchased. However, being in Australia, you may have no access to any of the above.

However, here it is on Amazon:

Thanks for the netflix idea. I have Netflix and am definitely going to line that one up on my queue.

I am now up to Ch. 11 and really enjoying it. fick writes really well and really explains things well so someone like me, new in this area, can be there right along with him in his story.

(view spoiler)[I am now at the beginning of the war. I am really impressed with Fick's abilities as a leader even early on in his career, right after training. In Generation Kill I was extremely impressed with his leadership and that's why I'm now reading his story, but to see that he was essentially a great leader tom the get go is even more impressive to me. I like how he really cares about his guys. I like when they were on alert to launch into Pakistan and he thought: "our default setting was to wait and let the situation develop. I picked up a phone to wake the Marines and then thought better of it. Each adrenaline rush is followed by a crash. Each time we prepped to launch but didn't go would leave us a little more tired, jaded, and frustrated. It would be better, I thought, to protect them from as much of that as possible."
Captain Whitmer is another interesting character. I like his calm demeanor too. I can see that Fick looks to him as a mentor. (hide spoiler)].

I guess I'm so impressed with these men that can be so calm in such high anxiety situations because I can only imagine how UNcalm I would be!! I'm learning a lot about myself during these reads as well :)

Tasha, you can line it up on your queue; but it is also available to stream and play instantly.

I forgot to mention how amazed and impressed I was while reading about what actually goes on during the planning stages from warning order to confirmation of attack.

Chapter 10
(view spoiler)[I was completely impressed by the "numerous small planning cells, each focused on a different aspect of the mission". pages 87- 88 really brought home to this civilian, what really needs to come together in planning war strategies. As a person who has never been exposed to this, I just always thought someone does the planning and the majority just execute the orders. But this combined effort by all involved really d
me. "it is a central tenet of the Marines' war-fighting philosophy that each subordinate must provide options to his boss-tell him what you can do, rather than what you can't." (hide spoiler)]

This scenario from page 137 (chapter ten) appears to be common place to all militaries across history:

(view spoiler)[“When I returned to the tower, Jim was standing over a cardboard box, looking disgusted. A Christmas card from the commander of U.S. Naval Forces in the Middle East, based in Bahrain, was taped to the outside. It was addressed to ‘U.S. Marine Platoon, Camp Rhino, Afghanistan.’ Inside were two dozen bags of microwave popcorn, an electric fan and Jackie Collins novels with titles like Hollywood Husbands and The World Is Full of Married Men.
‘Bro,’ he said as I climbed the stairs, ‘do you ever get the feeling that no one has a clue what we’re doing out here?’ “ (hide spoiler)]

Tasha wrote: "I forgot to mention how amazed and impressed I was while reading about what actually goes on during the planning stages from warning order to confirmation of attack.

Chapter 10
I was completely i..."

The other interesting thing about this process Tasha is how often it doesn't work as the famous quote states; "No plan survives contact with the enemy." - Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke.

But you are right, the military spends a lot of effort planning for every contingency and making sure that the troops are fully briefed on every aspect of the plan then they sit and wait and wait and wait :) which I think was highlighted in a few episodes of the series "Generation Kill".

Here is something to put you in the mood if your reading the book :-)

These next two links are to Nathaniel Fink talking about parts of his story in "One Bullet Away". Be mindful that they go into some details of the book and should be considered 'spoilers'.

Can't wait to check out those links but I'm going to wait until I'm finished with the book, or at least until he gets to Iraq.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "These next two links are to Nathaniel Fink talking about parts of his story in "One Bullet Away". Be mindful that they go into some details of the book and should be considered 'spoilers'.

Natha..."

You are right Aussie Rick; the videos are great and I enjoyed them immensely; but they are spoilers because he is talking about his experiences and the net benefit.

I must say that this book has been one of the easiest, most interesting and well written first-hand accounts that I have read on the Iraq conflict for some time. If anyone has watched the DVD; "Generation Kill" I have found that this book adds so much more to the characters that we saw in that series and I am now re-watching "Generation Kill" and enjoying it more.

I just started the book and I'm in chapter 2. It is very good so far. I think many can relate to the author as he walks into training. I wonder if he cleaned the words up? I don't read much swearing as I expect. I also like the visit by the British Royal Marine.

Hi Bryan, glad you can join us for this buddy read, although, I use the word 'us' loosely as I have been a bit of a no show so far on the buddy read.

Thanks Bentley and Aussie Rick for being patient with me. I have felt so guilty because I am supposed to (and had full intention to) lead the discussion. Thanks Aussie Rick for picking up my slack. :-)

Bentley, yep it is a beautiful area where we are...as long as you can dodge one in a hundred year flood and super cyclones. :-) lol! Mind you, we were too south for the super cyclone this week, but we do get the cyclones here sometimes.
Yes, I am another Aussie. :-)
I'm in Queensland, Australia, while Aussie Rick is in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Both areas where only awesome people live. :-) hehe.

Okay, got to brand cattle this afternoon, but I have a window as hubby has ducked into town to pick up some stock grain and will be home in about 30 minutes. Hubby works a normal job off farm and five days a week but is currently on holidays. I am usually here on my own during the week with plenty of time for reading and 카지노싸이트. Once hubby's hols are over (in a few days) I will be able to dedicate myself to this book some more.
I'll try and get some of my thoughts on One Bullet Away out into this thread before my better half gets home.

(by the way..I am loving the new spoiler feature you guys have utilised in this thread. It is the first time I have read a thread that has exclusively used it and it is excellent. I don't have to skim passed posts worrying that I will see something I don't want to).

Actually, on second thought. I might post this message and then start a whole new message with my One Bullet Away comments.

Queensland, my goodness; glad you are OK Terri. We missed you.

Chapter 1, paragraph 1, quote;
(view spoiler)[ Fifteen of us climbed into the ancient white school bus. Wire mesh covered its windows and four black words ran along its sides: UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS. (hide spoiler)]

That is the intro I spoke of in message 24 of this thread.
How could you not want to keep going after reading that? I love a great first paragraph. I look for one in every book I pick up.
_________________________________________________

Aussie Rick picked out a line that I was going to draw attention to also;

Chapter 1, page 6, Quote and comment;
(view spoiler)[ "The Marines," my dad said, "will teach you everything I love you too much to teach you."
What a great observation by his Dad. I wish my Dad was that philosophical. lol :-) . (hide spoiler)]

________________________________________________

Chapter 1, Quotes and comments;
(view spoiler)[ Gosh I laughed through the Instructor Sergeant Olds tirades. 'Stop eyeballing the freakin' area maggot.' 'Do you want to ask me out on a date? You look like you want to ask me out' and 'go ahead candidate. Keep whispering. And keep looking deep into my eyes. I dare you to ask me out.' And of course, who could forget Sergeants Olds' hilariously politically incorrect tirade when they had to tip out their belongings from their duffel bags.
"Dump your trash. I want to see who's trying to sneak naked pictures of his boyfreind into my squad bay." "What's in there?" "Drugs? Booze? maybe a tube of K-Y jelly and a big cucumber?"
I laughed and laughed at that last line. :-) (hide spoiler)]

_________________________________________________

I can understand now why instructors are so hard on candidates.
Chapter 2, page 20, Quote and comments;
(view spoiler)['The staff had a very real, vested interest in killing bad candidates before bad officers killed Marines'.
This was an enlightening thought when I read it. Of course. If you think about it, it is logical. For some reason, I had never thought that deeply on it. They don't try and cull these boys simply so they don't have bad soldiers in platoons. It is their mistakes that they are concerned with. They cull so they don't have bad soldiers making bad mistakes that end up killing men.
there is another part coming up in the book that I am about to find that speaks of variance of this same fact. Of course...I just have to try and find it.... (hide spoiler)]

_________________________________________________

In this part of One Bullet Away, I can see light shed on the connection Fick had with his platoon Sergeant in Generation Kill. All those who have read this book or watched the mini series will understand the poignancy;
Chapter 3, page 23, quote and comment;
(view spoiler)["Finally," Fanning exhorted us, "train your men as a team." A unit's good morale and esprit de corps depend on each man's feeling part of it. Marine's need to know one another's jobs. "That includes you and your platoon sergeant," he added. A new lieutenant and his enlisted second in command had to share their responsibilities. Too often, Fanning said, platoon commanders focused on the mission while platoon sergeants focused on troop welfare. "Each of you has to do both".
'From that afternoon on, I accepted the rules and lived by them. When getting dressed by the numbers, I tried to move faster and yell louder than anyone else. When Olds made me call cadence, I did it with heart and never backed down. He stopped caring that my calls confused the platoon. marching didn't matter. It was about cool under pressure. It was about detachment. We had to retain our ability to think when the world was crumbling around us. Not for ourselves, but for our Marines' end quote.
As I stated above this spoiler, I saw something in this part that helped me relate to something in 'Generation Kill'. You always see the lieutenants and Captains shadowed by their second-in-command. This isn't just because they like to hang around with each other since they are both officers and therefore need to segregate from the rest of the platoon. It is what they are trained to do. They are trained to shadow each other in order to gain greatest efficiency of responsibility, from command to corporal.
I was under the same impression, as Fanning spoke of, that platoon commanders focused on mission while his sergeant looked after the platoon and greased the squeaky wheels. But this is not so. Command and sergeant 'need to do both'
I hope that all made sense. I had thoughts about these parts in One Bullet Away as I was reading them, but because I couldn't get to 카지노싸이트 to post my thoughts straight away, I have to try an remember what I was thinking... (hide spoiler)]

byEvan Wright

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Chapter 3;
(view spoiler)[I am not sure where this part is. I am sure it is in chapter 3 because I have only just gotten into Chapter 4 (slack I know, but as you all know, I have some weak excuses for being so far behind in class.) :-)
The line I am looking for is where Fick makes an observation about why the whole squad is punished if one man does something wrong. Fick states that it is because, what one man does affects the whole platoon. You often see in movies, documentaries etc, the whole squad being punished with extra marching or push ups (for example) when one man makes a mistake or falls down. Like the spoiler I posted above where Fick speaks of bad officers killing marines, this made me realise the obvious.
I always thought it was unfair that everyone had to suffer for one man's mistakes.
I thought it was because the Instructors didn't want inferior soldiers in the army/navy/marines.
And I thought they punished everyone because that would turn them against the one man which in turn would encourage him not to fail. For fear of becoming an outcast amoungst their team/squad.
But it isn't that at all. Or if it is, it is only a very small part of it. It is to train the men that they work as one unit. What affects one person in battle, affects everyone.
I know, this is very obvious and I don't know why I have never thought of it before. Fick is really helping me to understand the military man a lot more. (hide spoiler)]

Thanks Bentley. :-)
And now I am, sort of, back enforce.
One big spoiler post full of comments (see below) to make up for my absence. :-)

Some excellent posts, comments and observations there Terri and all done whilst looking after a farm, a hubby and some cattle! I hope all is going well in your part of Queensland and I'm looking forward to more of your posts & observation on the book :)

One good thing about the book is that I've learnt so much more about Nathaniel Fink then I knew from watching his character in "Generation Kill". I was not aware of his service in Afghanistan so that was a surprise. It made more sense now that with his training and his previous operational experience he knew how to handle his men upon deployment to Iraq, he wasn't a "newbie".

Hi Rick,
Yep, everything is fine up here in QLD. :-) Hot and sunny as usual. Although it is hotter for the steers that we put brands on this afternoon. hehe

I can't wait to start reading about Fick in Afghanistan. I was aware only of his previous deployment to Afghanistan via the blurb on the back of One Bullet Away when I first sourced it through the library.

I am also interested to see how 9/11 affected him and how it made him feel, as a soldier, as a war on terror was planned in Afghanistan.

Another part I am looking forward to is when he deploys to Iraq and meets the soldiers of First Recon that we have come to know through "Generation Kill".
by Evan Wright

Hi Terri, good to hear all is OK in sunny Queensland!

When I first picked up the book I was not aware of the series "Generation Kill" and I came across the DVD pack by accident but bought it and my daughter and I watched together and I really loved it. It wasn't till nearly towards the end that I realised that I had the book "One Bullet Away" and that book was written by the same Nathaniel Fink that was in the DVD series, not real smart eh!

I think the book is great and I really raced throught it as it was so easy to read, intelligent and well written and a great insight into a junior commander leading men into conflict. I understand that the book may now be recommended reading for officers in some areas (Australian Army and on Lt. Gen James Mattis' Reading List - US)

Terri, I just went thru Fick's time in Afghanistan. I'll wait to hear that you got thru it too before adding more.

I'm in Chapter 17 right now and learning ALOT about the training that gies into 'making' recon marines. (view spoiler)[I had heard it was tough but, wow, those guys go thru a lot. Fick's attitude throughout his training to become a recon marine is impressive. No wonder he actually makes it thru, unlike many, many who don't. I'm at the point now where he is 'captured' as a prisoner or war and is being interrogated. I was very impressed watching the marines acting calmly under pressure in GK, but now I can see where some of that calmness comes from...being trained in such adverse
horrifying situations. To qoute a few things from this book:

"We'll find your soft spot and make it hard."

" 'Hardness', I was learning, was the supreme virtue among recon Marines....Hardness wasn't toughness, nor was it courage, although both were part of it. Hardness was the ability to face an overwhelming situation
with aplomb, smile calmly at it, and then triumph through sheer professional pride." (hide spoiler)]

I love, love Nate's writing style. I am thoroughly enjoying this read. Now back to seeing how he fares in the rest of ch 17 ;)

Just finished Chapter 17

(view spoiler)[ his 'failure' of the soft sell interrogation was eerie. "getting mind-fucked once is the best way to make sure it won't happen again". (hide spoiler)]

I ended that chapter with chills!