The group of men trudged slowly down the path towards the sound of Gunfire. They walked at the pace of their slowest member, a portly middle-aged government official who kept repeating to no one in particular "This must never get out..."
Marcus Crowe walked at the back, this was his first time on this firing range, but he had escorted multiple tours of various officials when the program had first started. It was early January and there had been a heavy fall of snow the previous night.
"it's good training for them" the Commanding officer had said brusquely, when Marcus had queried him about perhaps bringing the troops to a more comfortable location for their inspection. Marcus hadn't asked what the Colonel thought the future relevance of the training might be. The Colonel for all his very specific eccentricities, had been doing a sterling job since he'd taken over. The various problems that had nearly caused the program to be abandoned, had been resolved by the Colonel in a few weeks.
The Soldiers that had passed out of the program prior to the Colonel taking over had all been quickly sent back, to receive revised training to the Colonel's new specifications.
"This must never get..." the official started to say yet again but before he was cut off brusquely by one of his colleagues.
"Oh for goodness sake Jeffery" the silver haired man in his early 60's said exasperated "Over a year this project has been running and not so much as a rumour on an internet forum has gotten out" he paused and looked at Marcus "it's remarkable" he said his eyes narrowing "that's what I'm here to investigate, how they've managed to ensure such complete secrecy, whatever little display they've got for us, is much less interesting."
The official's name was Sir Mathew Stanley, and it was him that Marcus was most focused on today. Marcus smiled "Well I assure you sir, it's not simply a display, you'll get to interact fully with the recruits"
Sir Mathew looked at Marcus, shrugged and trudged on. Marcus had met other men like Sir Mathew since the program had begun, he may want to give the impression that he was above it all, but he'd want his turn just like everyone else did.
They heard the shouts and barked commands before they turned the corner, then they came into sight of the range a little over a hundred yards away. As they walked closer, they could see the sections of soldiers running between the firing points. Even to a lay man Marcus could tell they were well drilled, they manoeuvred expertly up and down the range firing and moving in pairs and groups.
"The Colonel has them out here several times a week", the gruff voice of the Sergeant escorting them said to Marcus. I know infantry regiments that spend less time on the ranges.
"Why" Marcus asked, genuinely puzzled, but knowing the Sergeant would be unlikely to say anything that reflected badly on the Colonel.
The Sergeant shrugged "It works" he said simply "I remember when the program first started and what a disaster it was, all the recruits running around like teenagers, training them for their..." the Sargent hesitated before settling on the accepted euphemism " training them for their speciality, was a nightmare as well" he shuddered "we had to coax and bully them into it" he shuddered, Marcus got the impression he had some degree of compassion and concern for the recruits "this way is better" he said emphatically, in a way Marcus knew wasn't just him supporting his Colonel.
He indicated the soldiers on the range "the Colonel says to make them good soldiers first, military training is fundamental, everything else..." he paused again "it makes everything else we need to teach them easier"
Marcus detected a hint of sadness in his voice, maybe he was having second thoughts? He filed the Sergeants reservations away for future action the project couldn't afford any weak links.
The cease fire order was given once the range officer saw the group approaching. The figures started to double time it back to the road. There looked to be about twenty-four soldiers in total plus the dozen or so training staff. Twenty-four made sense there were three sections of eight soldiers. Last time he had been here several soldiers had been removed from training.
"The two other sections?" Marcus asked the Sergeant.
"Back in Camp" The Sergeant replied carefully "their ahm... specialist training, intensifies in weeks 2 to 5, it's ..." he hesitates again, and a grimace crosses his face "The Colonel keeps them separate from the other sections for the first 6 weeks, he says those 6 weeks are key, which is why we had the problems with the recruits that passed out previously"
Marcus marvelled at the way the Sergeant was able to use language that might have better pertained to the training of mechanics.
The Sergeant carried on oblivious, warming to his theme of praising the new training program "Before it was all one-on-one training, now they do it as a section, from their initial inductions to their assessments, the military training is key, particularly since we're now taking recruits straight from civilian life rather than recruits that have already done military training."
This was something that Marcus was keen to investigate. The British Army was small, and it was always going to struggle to provide enough recruits, also with security being such a concern, the fact that so many recruits were being taken from the training regiments and field army that it was bound to eventually have been noticed.
"How is that working?" Marcus asked, "taking recruits straight from civilian life?"
The Sergeant nodded enthusiastically "Very well, in fact doing all their military training under our supervision has them better soldiers at the end" with a note of pride "well so we all think."
I bet you do, Marcus thought with a touch of cynicism, still he said nothing, the Sergeant seemed a decent enough sort.
He turned his face back to the rank of soldiers now formed up on the range. From a distance they might have looked to be regular soldiers, perhaps a little bit shorter and of smaller physique if you thought about it. Their figures were bulked out by their helmets webbing, and weapons, along with the loosely fitting combat jackets.
They didn't use the regular SA 80 assault rifles that equipped the regular British Solider. Instead, they used sleek German made short, barrelled HK 417's. Top of the line with attached optics. He had initially been surprised when the Colonel's requisition had come across his desk. Likewise demands for other top of the line equipment. He'd approved it instantly of course, and not asked any questions.
The cold was starting to get to Marcus, but he looked at the rest of the group and he saw that they didn't feel like complaining. They were all focused on the group, and the pace picked up as they moved towards them.
The soldiers had formed up in a line and unloaded their weapons, under the supervision of their training staff, then they formed into three ranks awaiting the VIPS arrival.
Marcus had thought that the uniform, weapons, and equipment, not to mention the cam cream smeared over each recruit's face might serve to give a bad first impression, but in fact he heard a noticeable gasp and mumble from several of the VIPS including Sir Mathew when the recruits removed their helmets.
'The Colonel might just be a genius' Marcus thought approvingly. With their Helmets removed the femininity of the 24 soldiers formed up struck home, subtlety but powerfully. Each soldier had her hair tied up in a tight bum that had been hidden under her helmet. They each stood at ease in the same way, in a way borne from training and experience.
Each Soldier had her helmet under her left arm and her rifle by its sling hanging from her right side.
"IN OPEN ORDER" the voice of their Sgt Major bellowed.
The women moved in perfect unison, forming 3 ranks of 8. Each woman had a large space around her. Marcus turned to the Sergeant "we're going to do it here?" he asked surprised.
The Sergeant nodded "It's how the Colonel likes it" he said nonchalantly. He picked up on Marcus's surprised "don't worry about it Sir, they're all used to it, we take them through this, 3 or 4 times a day" he nodded to the soldiers as they stood to attention in perfect open order "Most of them will be actually glad to see the visit, they'll get it a lot rougher if you weren't here"
"Most of them?" Marcus asked
The Sergeant shrugged again "At this point in their training, there's a few that feel like they're missing out if we don't give it to them hard after the ranges", he shrugged, "we encourage them to get into a routine, and that's what they expect" he looked at Marcus and added "look Sir they're all good girls, they want to make a good impression"
"I don't think they'll have any problem doing that" Marcus said quietly.
A figure walked out of the range hut and towards the group, he was a burly Major in his early 40's he had a genuine smile on his face, and he held his hand out for Marcus.
Marcus was glad to see Major Norman Stone again, like Marcus he had been involved in the project from the beginning, he gripped Stones hand and set honestly "it's good to see you again Norman."
Norman gestured for Marcus to move away from the group where they could talk privately "And you Marcus" his face showed lines of stress "Jesus I was lucky to survive when the Colonel took over."
"It was that bad?" Marcus asked in a hushed voice.
