A sergeant cannot always be blamed for his tough treatment of rookie* soldiers. There is the story of the sergeant who was training a bunch of recruits on a rifle range.
At a hundred yards the order to fire was given. After the smoke had cleared away, the target was revealed as smooth and untouched.
The sergeant gave the order to move up to fifty yards. Again the firing order was given. And still the target was untouched. They moved up to twenty-five yards--with the same results.
Ordering the recruits to close ranks, the sergeant, red-faced and seemingly about to burst, bellowed: "Fix bayonets and charge!"
中士對待新兵嚴格，未必不對。有一個故事，說一名中士在靶場訓練一群新兵。
他下令新兵在一百碼之外開槍。硝煙散後，可以看見靶子平滑無損，沒有中彈。
中士命令士兵向前走五十碼，再下令開槍，靶子仍是絲毫無損。他們再向前走二十五碼，結果還是一樣。
中士漲紅了臉，似乎肺將氣炸。他下令新兵聚集起來，大吼一聲：「上刺刀，向前衝！」
*Rookie是美國俚語，應是從recruit一字演變而成，指軍隊、警隊、球隊等的新人，多用在另一名詞之前，例如a rookie cop（新招募的警察）。