The army is havin’ us train with crossbows … which is understandable, as the trainin’ time necessary for usin’ a longbow with any degree of proficiency in a combat situational is considerable, thereby makin’ it a dubious subject of study for basic trainin’. Slings is even worse, as until one has reached near expert familiarity with one, the best odds of inflictin’ injury with this weapon is that of hangin’ oneself with said weapon whilst tryin’ to get the rock to fly somewhere near the general direction of the target. The most physically inept of klutzes, however can attain a minimal level of effectiveness with a crossbow in a single afternoon, which is doubtlessly why the army chose this particular weapon to introduce the recruits to the intricacies of projectile combat.
“You will notice that you will be firing at full sized, man-shaped targets for this exercise,” Sergeant Smiley says, havin’ already bellowed at length on range safety and proper handlin’ of the weapons. “The army has chosen to have you train on these as opposed to bull’s-eyes, as it will better prepare you mentally and emotionally to fire your weapon at a live opponent. At all times during this exercise, you will fix it in your minds that the dummy facing you is a live enemy who wants to kill you, and conduct yourselves accordingly. Do I make myself clear?”
“YES, SERGEANT.’!”
The crew has this response down pat now … and it only took ’em a few days of trainin’ to master it. Nunzio and me joins in at the proper cue, though there are some questions which could have been raised at this point.