And someone can do lots of training simulations, pass with flying colors, and still choke when confronted with the real deal. Remember Lt. Gorman in Aliens?
Why is this his first “real deal”? Shouldn’t he have seen this kind of action many times before ending up in Ren’s unit? I mean Ren knew his serial number off the top of his head. He was obviously informed about the troops around him.
As a viewer, I really shouldn’t have to read the novelization to make sense of the characters’ motivations.