Remembering World War I: Building the American Army

The United States declared war on Germany with a small standing army. There were just over 120,000 men in the U.S. Army, and 180,000 in the National Guard. A radical transformation had to occur to meet the needs of participation in a global conflict with new weapons and vehicles, significant training requirements, and a trans-oceanic supply system.  The necessary growth and change required complete reorganization and rethinking.  

One of the major realizations was that volunteer soldiers alone would be insufficient to staff the needs of this new Army. To fill the ranks, Congress passed the Selective Service Act of 1917 on May 18. It called for all men between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for the draft, later amended to include men 18 to 45 years of age.  All registered men received a number as part of the process. Local authorities then called registered men to service based on a national lottery.  Roughly 2.8 million men were drafted, providing about 60 percent of those serving.[i]

The need to train the newly inducted men and women presented problems because of the size of the force, the increasing complexity of soldiering, and the diverse education and cultural background of American soldiers.  For the first time men had to take basic intelligence tests to govern their placement in the military. The American government set up a national system of 32 training areas to manage the new soldiers. In England, Italy, and France the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and its allies set up training camps to teach the Americans current fighting and technical skills. As part of these efforts, more than 1,000 veteran Allied soldiers served as instructors. These new soldiers needed qualified, capable commanders at all levels. With around only 6,000 Army officers when war was declared, the training camp system alone commissioned more than 80,500 officers.[ii]  Millions became proficient American officers and soldiers.

Participation in World War I required the U.S. Army to organize into a modern military. Units for the fighting front, supply, transport, engineering, and medical services, to name the most common, were needed.  The early French and British missions to the United States advised the U.S. Army on the needs and composition of the American forces.  At the end of May 1917 Col. Chauncey Baker of the Quartermaster Corps, academy classmate of Gen. John J. Pershing, was sent to Europe with a small staff to observe the French and British Armies. They reported on both armies by mid-July.  While the Army considered Baker’s report, the AEF began to arrive and train in Europe.  The AEF grew steadily and reorganize based on experience and the example of their allies.

In a year and a half the AEF went from a small force to an army of millions.  They operated supply lines from the United States, across the Atlantic and France to the Meuse River.  They built new port facilities, workshops, lumber mills, and railway lines carrying American locomotives. They trained hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers. The rapidity and competence of American mobilization contributed to concluding the war in 1918 though many believed it could continue until 1919 or 1920. While some doubted the ability of the U.S. Army to evolve in such a fast, efficient manner, this transformation proved the United States deserved a leading role on the world stage. The individual and institutional experience of the U.S. Army in World War I would be invaluable again to the United States in World War II.