Bermuda’s newest soldiers fired their first shots on the Warwick Camp range yesterday after a week of intensive classroom rifle training.The Royal Bermuda Regiment recruits used the SA-80 rifles in a live firing exercise under the watchful eye of highly qualified range supervisors.Private Cush Smith, 20, enjoyed the experience and his first taste of life as an RBR soldier.He said: “It’s good. I like firing the weapon and seeing how I did. I did OK.”Private Smith, a farmer from Sandys, said: “I’m enjoying Recruit Camp because it’s good experience and you learn good lessons here, like time management and discipline.“But I’ve enjoyed the shooting most so far. All the classroom work and safety lessons were worth it.”Private Maria Deleon Garcia, from Southampton, added: “I was a bit scared at first, then I thought ‘I’ve got this’. I enjoyed it.”The 20-year-old, on a break from a Bermuda College nursing assistant’s course, said: “I joined the regiment because I wanted something different and I don’t have a job at the moment.“I like talking to my new friends and the exercise. My legs hurt, but I just get on with it.”Recruit Camp section instructor Corporal Nigel Lee, 28, a nine-year veteran of the RBR from Devonshire, added: “They were all good on the range.“I could tell they were nervous, but they did well.”Corporal Lee, who works for courier firm IBC in civilian life, was pleased to see that the painstaking instruction on safety and the mechanics of the SA-80 rifle had been absorbed by the recruits.He said: “It’s a good feeling to see that all the information got across to them, so they did well in their first shoot of their military careers.”Corporal Lee, who is attached to the RBR’s Training Wing and a first-time Recruit Camp instructor, added: “I’ve enjoyed the teaching.“I like seeing the instructors’ hard work paying off when they passed the weapons-handling tests.”The troops also had lessons in first aid and communications, including how to set up a field radio mast, yesterday.Today, they will spend their first night under canvas at Hog Bay Park in Sandys.Corporal Lee said: “From the first day, you could tell they were nervous but, as time went on, they became more and more soldiers rather than civilians.“They’re all looking forward to the Passing Out Parade on Friday and to going home.”