The safety of our own infantry and the effectiveness of our fire are absolutely dependent on the continuous training of gun crews, and the resultant precision and sureness with which they perform their work. This can only be obtained by constant drill from the day the recruit joins until the day of his discharge; not by long drills in which he grows tired and loses interest, but by short periods broken by instruction in other subjects; not by many hours one week and none the next, but by a short period every day of the week. The best gunners grow rusty in a very few days; constant short drills will give results and are the secret of success. Every man must get instructions every day, be he raw recruit or expert gunner. Cannoneers should be taught that the greatest crime that can be committed in laying the piece is to make an error—the only crime for which there is no punishment. An error or mistake in the correct service of the piece should not be punished, but it should be carefully explained how the efficiency of the battery depends on each member, and to insure that crime is not committed again, additional hours of instruction beyond that required for the rest of the crew will be necessary. Every man must be on his toes from the time he comes in sight of his gun, every movement at the piece must be at a run. Slow and sleepy motions of one man will kill all the snap and energy of every other member of the crew. Do not, however, confuse speed of performing any given motion with hurry in execution of detail. For example, the gunner must move with snap and energy in getting his eye back to the sight and his hand on the traversing handwheel after the piece is fired, but he must never be hurried in getting the vertical wire exactly on the aiming point, or in making the ordered changes in the deflection setting. Stop watches should not be used. They are a fruitful cause of errors. Speed comes from continual practice and it cannot be artificially attained by stop-watch timing. Do not understand that speed is not desirable, it is highly desirable, but practice alone will give it and it will nearly always be found that the best-trained crew is the fastest crew. Competitions between crews must be for accuracy, not speed. If every motion is made with a snap and at a run the results as regards speed will be satisfactory.