Nathaniel Fick

Nathaniel Fick
Born	1977 (age 33–34) Towson, Maryland
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1999–2004
Rank	Captain
Commands held	Weapons Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 1st Marines 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion
Battles/wars	War in Afghanistan 2003 invasion of Iraq

Nathaniel C. "Nate" Fick (born 1977) is a veteran United States Marine Corps officer and CEO of the Center for a New American Security, a national security think tank based in Washington, D.C. He came to public notice for his writing on military life and the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.^[1] Fick is the author of One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer, a memoir of his military experience published in 2005.

Biography

Fick was born in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Loyola Blakefield high school in Towson, Maryland. He graduated with degrees in both classics and government from Dartmouth College in 1999. While at Dartmouth, Fick captained the cycling team to a U.S. National Championship and wrote a senior thesis on Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War and its implications for American foreign policy^[2]. In 1998, after his junior year at Dartmouth, he attended the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidates School and was commissioned a second lieutenant upon his college graduation the following year.^[1]

Fick was trained as an infantry officer and was eventually 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 to support the War on Terror only weeks after the September 11 attacks. Upon his return to the United States in 2002, he was recommended for Marine reconnaissance training. He subsequently led 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Fick left the Marine Corps as a captain in 2003, and Brent Morel took his place as platoon commander. Fick received a master's degree from the Kennedy School of Government.^[3] In addition, Fick wrote a book, One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer, detailing his experiences in the Marine Corps. He later enrolled in Harvard Business School and writes occasional articles about military matters.^[1] He was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the Center for a New American Security and was appointed CEO in June 2009. Fick spoke briefly at the 2008 Democratic National Convention on August 28, 2008.

Portrayals in media

Fick and his platoon were the subject of a series of articles in Rolling Stone and the book Generation Kill by embedded journalist Evan Wright. Generation Kill was adapted into a miniseries of the same name by HBO, in which Fick was portrayed by Stark Sands.

See also

	Biography portal
	United States Marine Corps portal

• List of United States Marines

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Fang, Bay (January 1, 2006). "A 'Reluctant Warrior' in Iraq". U.S. World and News Report. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060109/9qa.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-31. 
2. ^ http://www.o-a-inc.com/bk_onebullet5.html
3. ^ Fick, Nathaniel (2005). One Bullet Away – The Making of a Marine Officer. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618556133. 

External links

• Center for a New American Security bio
• Video for One Bullet Away
• Testimony before Congress
• Interview on One Bullet Away
• Nathaniel Fick (November 9, 2005). "How Accurate Is Jarhead? What one Marine makes of the Gulf War movie". Slate Magazine. http://slate.msn.com/id/2129813/. Retrieved 2007-03-31. 

Persondata
Name	Fick, Nathaniel
Alternative names	Fick, Nate
Short description	United States Marine Corps officer
Date of birth	1977
Place of birth	Towson, Maryland
Date of death
Place of death