"You had any training before"?

“You had any training before”?
(a) Who is the speaker in the above statement?
(b) Which word in the extract is a synonym of ‘earlier’?
© What must the Professor have replied?

(a) The ‘Sergeant’ is the speaker in the above statement.
(b) The word is ‘before’.
© The Professor replied that it was due to intelligent reading and not training.