25 Quotes by Nathaniel Fick

Great Marine commanders, like all great warriors, are able to kill that which they love most -- their men.

Strong combat leadership is never by committee. Platoon commanders must command, and command in battle isn't based on consensus. It's based on consent. Any leader wields only as much authority and influence as is conferred by the consent of those he leads. The Marines allowed me to be their commander, and they could revoke their permission at any time.

Hardness," I was learning, was the supreme virtue among recon Marines. The greatest compliment one could pay to another was to say he was hard. 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.

Your job is to be the hardest motherfucker in your platoon," he said while pointing at me across the desk. "Do that, and everything else will fall into place."He added that I was assigned to Bravo Company, call sign Hitman, and wished me luck.

Worst of all were the accolades and thanks from people "for what you guys did over there." Thanks for what, I wanted to ask—shooting kids, cowering in terror behind a berm, dropping artillery on people's homes?

My team is the best, the platoon is good, the company? is awful, and the battalion is actively trying to kill us.

When you are serving volunteer professional military, you take an oath to the Constitution, not to a policy or a president and you swear to obey the lawful orders of the democratically elected government. And so at the end of the day you could table your personal political views and do your job.

I was in Afghanistan and then obviously in Iraq. And I realized that you can’t control life. You can do a lot to prepare. You can train, and at the end of the day there’s an element that’s always going to be beyond your control.

Do nothing but be prepared to do anything.