much about ballistics and related topics?

As a result of being in the business (hunting/fishing)off and onfor over 20years I often deal with many military people, but before 9/11 (and really didn't see all that many vets from Desert Storm) most of the military guys I dealt with were either retired or had been into hunting/shooting for many years in addition to being in the military. Most of them seemed to have at least a working knowledge of ballistics, caliber, terminal performance etc...

The reason I ask is that lately I have been coming into contact with a fair number of Iraq/Afghan vets, most of which the full timers are still in their 20s-30s. But almost too the man, unless they didn't have prior gun/hunting/shooting experience before joining the military many of them are nearly clueless or have ALOT to learn and understand about basic ballistic theory.

One such case happened too me yesterday, I had a kid come into the store and started asking about .375 H&Hs. Being in west TN we certainly don't have much call for such a caliber, I showed him the closest thing I had (.325WSM A-bolt Hunter Field) and then began asking him where he was going and what he was hunting (expecting to hear about bears in AK/CD or an African trip). I had to hold back a laugh when he said that a good buddy of his was from CO and that he was going to go elk hunting with him there this fall...

Now I'm NOT bagging on these kids nor our military. I LOVE EM and THANK GOD we have them, I care about each and every one of them and thank them personally for their service when I meet em. But I just see such a large percentage of the military guys nearly in complete blindness about what I consider to be basic ballistic theory and hunting arms knowledge. The kid was under the assumption that a .375 would be a great round not because of it's knockdown and legendary penetration, but because since it was bigger than most then it must be a better long range weapon. He also hinted at it as "probably being a great western caliber"? Without laughing or being rude, I spent about 20 minutes with him and explained a few basic things too him and why he should perhaps look at other tools for the job. Like I said, he's certainly not the first and wont be the last.

Again, NO disrespect for our finest. I just have to wonder just how much time the military honestly spends with these kids on the range and in the classroom with their guns?
RA