Nathaniel Fick

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Nathaniel Fick is a former United States Marine Corps officer who has come to public notice for his writing on military life and the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Fick attended Loyola Blakefield high school in Towson, Maryland. In 1998, after his junior year at Dartmouth College, he attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a second lieutenant upon his college graduation the following year. He was assigned as a platoon commander to 1st Battalion, 1st Marines and, as a member of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, led his platoon into Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Upon his return, he was recommended for Recon training, and subsequently led a platoon of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Upon his return to the United States, he left the Marine Corps, positing that his concern for the well-being of his men would compromise his judgment in military matters.

He wrote a book, One Bullet Away, detailing his experiences in the Marine Corps. In addition, he and his platoon were the subject of a series of articles in Rolling Stone by embedded journalist Evan Wright which has been turned into a book entitled Generation Kill. Currently, Fick is enrolled in Harvard University's Harvard Business School and writes occasional articles about military matters. He also received a master's degree from the Kennedy School of Government. ^[1]