Everyday Carry

One Bullet Away

A Marine officer's account of OCS through Afghanistan and Iraq, and the best writing on leadership under fire I have come across.

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Mike ManningBy Mike Manning
Marine veteran, gym owner, dad
Recon Report: full review pendingPhotos: Nathaniel FickUpdated 2026-10-04
More from Nathaniel Fick

Product Information, Not A Review

Specs, pricing and buying notes taken from the manufacturer so you can compare this against whatever else you are looking at. I have not had this one in my hands. When it goes through real use it gets rewritten as a full review, with a rating and my own photos.

One Bullet Away

Quick Specs

CategoryEveryday Carry
BrandAmazon
ReviewedOct 4, 2026
AuthorNathaniel Fick
CategoryMilitary memoir, Marine Corps
FormatsAudible and print

What Stands Out

  • Written by an officer who went through the pipeline and then led men in two wars
  • The Basic School and Recon training sections are superb
  • Genuinely useful on leadership without ever being a leadership book
  • A Marine Corps account, which is thinner on the shelf than SEAL memoirs

What To Check

  • Quieter than the SEAL memoirs it sits next to, which is the point and not for everyone
  • Assumes some patience with military structure and jargon

Why it is on this shelf

Every Dad Carry has a veterans section because I am a Marine and most of the people I train are veterans or married to one. This shelf exists partly to point at the books that do that experience justice, and partly because a long drive or a long session is the best time most of us get to read anything.

Audiobook or print

Both links are below. The general rule I use: memoir and narrative history go well on audio, because they are stories and a good narrator carries them. Anything with maps, photographs or a large cast you need to keep straight is easier in print.

One note on war memoirs

These are first-person accounts, and first-person accounts are shaped by the person telling them. Several of the books on this shelf have had details publicly disputed. That does not make them worthless, it makes them testimony rather than history. Read enough of them and the shape of the thing comes through.

The Short Version

A Marine officer's account of OCS through Afghanistan and Iraq, and the best writing on leadership under fire I have come across.

Mike Manning

MIKE MANNING

Founder, Every Dad Carry

Dad | Coach | Marine Corps Veteran

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