Alma, Michigan
Alma is the largest city in Gratiot County in the U. S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,383 at the 2010 census, it was incorporated as the Village of Alma in 1872 and became a city in 1905. Alma's hosts the annual Highland Festival which brings members of Scottish clans and interested onlookers together for a weekend of Highland dancing, bagpipes and camaraderie; the Highland Festival is held each year over Memorial Day weekend. Alma College, a small liberal-arts institution of 1,300 students, is located in town and focuses on multidisciplinary learning in a residential setting. Alma is the birthplace of both the modernist architect Ralph Rapson and writer/composer/lyricist Dan Goggin. Alma was the home of Leonard Refineries, Inc. which sold gasoline and other petroleum products throughout the lower peninsula of Michigan from 1936 when the company was founded until 1966. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.09 square miles, of which 5.93 square miles is land and 0.16 square miles is water.
Alma was founded in 1853 by Ralph Ely. First known for the Alma Springs Sanitarium and promoted in the 1880s by millionaire lumberman and capitalist Ammi Willard Wright, it achieved its greatest prominence nationally in the 1910s and 1920s as home of the Republic Motor Truck Company the largest exclusive truck manufacturer in the world. In 1953 Alma became the first place that 96 octane, was produced; as of the census of 2010, there were 9,383 people, 3,468 households, 2,033 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,582.3 inhabitants per square mile. There were 3,784 housing units at an average density of 638.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 92.8% White, 0.9% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 2.8% from other races, 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.1% of the population. There were 3,468 households of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.4% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.0% had a male householder with no wife present, 41.4% were non-families.
34.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.8% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age in the city was 30.8 years. 21.4% of residents were under the age of 18. The gender makeup of the city was 46.9% male and 53.1% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 9,275 people, 3,220 households, 2,022 families residing in the city; the population density was 1,729.7 per square mile. There were 3,476 housing units at an average density of 648.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 93.75% White, 0.53% African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.75% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 2.57% from other races, 1.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.21% of the population. There were 3,220 households out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.6% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.2% were non-families.
30.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.98. In the city, the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 20.4% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $33,536, the median income for a family was $44,229. Males had a median income of $35,013 versus $20,655 for females; the per capita income for the city was $18,218. About 8.5% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over. US 127 Bus. US 127 M-46 Public bus transportation is provided on a dial-a-ride service basis by DART Transportation from 7:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. during weekdays within the city limits and to surrounding areas.
Indian Trails provides daily intercity bus service to Alma between St. Ignace and East Lansing, Michigan; the Morning Sun newspaper, based in Mt. Pleasant, serves the Alma area as its daily newspaper. Alma is home to three commercial radio stations. WQBX plays satellite-fed hot adult contemporary music, sister station WFYC is an ESPN Radio affiliate. Standalone AM WMLM, licensed to nearby St. Louis, plays classic country music satellite-fed; the Alma area is located about midway between Saginaw and Grand Rapids, thus receives TV and radio signals from both cities, as well as Mt. Pleasant and Lansing. Dan Goggin and writer Randy Ebright, drummer for Mexican band Molotov. 1902–1927 Betty Mahmoody, author of Not Without My Daughter. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Alma has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps. Alma College Al
Michigan National Guard
The Michigan National Guard consists of the Michigan Army National Guard and the Michigan Air National Guard. Michigan Army National Guard units include: Recruiting Office: Bay City, MI Recruiting Office: Sterling Heights, MI 177th Regional Training Institute - Augusta, MI 126th Press Camp Headquarters - Augusta, MI Recruiting & Retention Battalion - Lansing, MI 1208th Military Intelligence Platoon - Taylor, MI 51st Civil Support Team - Augusta, MI Medical Command - Detroit, MI Detachment 15 Operational Support Airlift - Lansing, MI Fort Custer Training Center - Augusta, MI Military Training Center - Grayling, MI 1208th Engineering Survey & Design Team - Lansing, MI 1999th AQ Detachment 1146th Judge Advocate General Detachment - Lansing, MI Detachment 1, 505th Judge Advocate General - Lansing, MI 63rd Troop Command - Wyoming, MI 1-125th Infantry Battalion - Flint, MI Company A - Detroit, MI Company B - Saginaw, MI Detachment 1 – Alpena, MI Company C - Wyoming, MI Company D - Big Rapids, MI Company F, 237 BSB - Bay City, MI 1-126th Cavalry Squadron - Wyoming, MI Troop A – Cadillac, MI Troop B - Manistee, MI Troop C - Dowagiac, MI Company D, 237th BSB - Wyoming, MI Company F, 425th Infantry - Selfridge, MI 1-119th Field Artillery Battalion - Lansing, MI Battery A - Port Huron, MI Battery B - Alma, MI Battery C - Albion, MI 119th Support Company - Augusta, MI 1-182nd Field Artillery Battalion - Detroit, MI Battery A - Detroit, MI Battery B - Bay City, MI Battery C - Lansing, MI 182nd Support Company – Detroit, MI Detachment 2 – Wyoming, MI 272nd Regional Support Group 1225th Cmd Sustainment Support Battalion - Detroit, MI 1071st Maintenance Company - Grayling, MI 1072nd Maintenance Company - Detroit, MI 1073rd Maintenance Company - Greenville, MI 464th Quartermaster Company – Lapeer, MI 246th Transportation Battalion - Jackson, MI 1460th Transportation Company - Midland, MI 1461st Transportation Company - Jackson, MI Detachment 1 - Augusta, MI 1462nd Transportation Company - Howell, MI 1463rd Transportation Company - Wyoming, MI Detachment 1 – Sturgis, MI 146th Multifunctional Medical Battalion - Ypsilanti, MI 1171st Medical Company - Ypsilanti, MI 3-238th General Support Aviation Battalion - Grand Ledge, MI Detachment 1, Company B – Selfridge, MI Detachment 1, Company C - Grand Ledge, MI Company D - Grand Ledge, MI Company E - Grand Ledge, MI Company B, 1-112th Aviation - Grand Ledge, MI Detachment 1, 1-147th Aviation - Grand Ledge, MI Company B, 1-147th Aviation - Grand Ledge, MI Company C, 1-147th Aviation - Grand Ledge, MI Detachment 1, Company D, 1-147th Aviation - Grand Ledge, MI Detachment 1, Company E, 1-147th Aviation - Grand Ledge, MI Detachment 2, Company B, 351 Aviation Support - Grand Ledge, MI 46th Military Police Command - Lansing 177th Military Police Brigade – Taylor, MI 210th Military Police Battalion - Taylor 1775th Military Police Company - Pontiac, MI 1776th Military Police Company - Taylor 144th Military Police Company - Reassigned to Nebraska ARNG in 2016 46th Military Police Company - Corunna, MI 777th Military Police Detachment - Taylor 156th Expeditionary Signal Battalion Company A, 156 ESB, Michigan Company B, 156 ESB, Michigan Company C, 156 ESB, Michigan HQ, 156 ESB, Michigan 631st Troop Command - Lansing, MI Company B, BSTB, 37th BCT - Lansing, MI 460th Chemical Company - Augusta, MI 126th Army Band – Wyoming, MI 107th Engineer Battalion - Ishpeming, MI 1430th Engineer Company - Gladstone, MI Detachment 1 - Marquette, MI 1431st Engineer Company - Calumet, MI Detachment 1 - Baraga, MI 1432nd Engineer Company - Kingsford, MI Detachment 1 - Iron River, MI 1437th Engineer Company - Sault Ste.
Marie, MI 507th Engineer Battalion - Kalamazoo, MI 1433rd Engineer Company - Augusta, MI 1434th Engineer Company - Grayling, MI Detachment 1 - Augusta, MI 1436th Engineer Company - Montague, MI 1440th Engineer Detachment - Grayling, MI 1439th Engineer Detachment - Grayling, MI 1442nd Engineer Detachment - Grayling, MI 745th Explosive Ordnance Disposal - Grayling, MIMichigan Air National Guard units include: 127th Wing, Selfridge Air National Guard Base 110th Airlift Wing, Battle Creek Air National Guard Station/W. K. Kellogg Airport Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Alpena Air National Guard BaseThe Michigan National Guard has two State Partnership Program relationships. One is with the Latvian National Armed Forces; the program began in October 2009. The other is with the Armed Forces of Liberia. Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Michigan Naval Militia Michigan Volunteer Defense Force Michigan Army National Guard Units Bibliography of Michigan Army National Guard History compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History
Guantánamo Bay
Guantánamo Bay is a bay located in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave, cut off from its immediate hinterland; the United States assumed territorial control over the southern portion of Guantánamo Bay under the 1903 Lease agreement. The United States exercises complete jurisdiction and control over this territory, while recognizing that Cuba retains ultimate sovereignty; the current government of Cuba regards the U. S. presence in Guantánamo Bay as "illegal" and insists the Cuban–American Treaty "was obtained by threat of force and is in violation of international law." Some legal scholars judge. It is the home of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp located within the base, which are both governed by the United States. Since the 1959 revolution, Cuba has only cashed a single lease payment from the United States government. Guantánamo Bay has a hot semi-arid climate according to the Köppen climate classification, with high temperatures throughout the year.
Rainfall is rather low, it is one of the driest regions in Cuba. The United States first seized Guantánamo Bay and established a naval base there in 1898 during the Spanish–American War in the Battle of Guantánamo Bay. In 1903, the United States and Cuba signed a lease granting the United States permission to use the land as a coaling and naval station; the lease satisfied the Platt Amendment. The bay was called Guantánamo by the Taínos. Christopher Columbus landed in 1494. On landing, Columbus' crew found Taíno fishermen preparing a feast for the local chieftain; when Spanish settlers took control of Cuba, the bay became a vital harbor on the south side of the island. The bay was known as Cumberland Bay when the British seized it in 1741, during the War of Jenkins' Ear. British Adm. Edward Vernon arrived with a force of eight warships and 4,000 soldiers with plans to march on Santiago de Cuba. However, he was defeated by local guerrilla forces of creole and Spaniards and forced to withdraw or face becoming a prisoner.
In late 1760, boats from HMS Trent and HMS Boreas cut out the French privateers Vainquer and Mackau, which were hiding in the bay. The French were forced to burn the Guespe, another privateer, to prevent her capture. During the Spanish–American War, the U. S. Navy fleet attacking Santiago needed shelter from the summer hurricane season, they chose Guantánamo because of its excellent harbor. U. S. Marines landed with naval support in the 1898 invasion of Guantánamo Bay; as they moved inland, Spanish resistance increased and the marines required support from Cuban scouts. Guantanamo Bay was used as a processing center for asylum seekers and a camp for HIV positive refugees in the 1990s. Within six months the USA had interned over 30,000 Haitian refugees in Guantanamo, while another 30,000 fled to the Dominican Republic; the USA admitted 10,747 of the Haitians to refugee status in the United States. Most of the refugees were housed in a tent city on the re-purposed airstrip that would be used to house the complex used for the Guantanamo military commissions.
The refugees who represented discipline or security problems were held on the site that became Camp XRay, the initial site of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. In August 1994 rioting broke out in the detention camps in which 20 U. S. military police and 45 Haitians were injured. The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base surrounds the southern portion of the bay. Since 2002, the base has included the detainment camp for individuals deemed of risk to United States national security. In 2009, U. S. President Barack Obama gave orders for the detention camp to be closed by January 22, 2010; as of 2015, the detention camp remains open due to a congressional refusal of funds for its closure. The naval base, nicknamed "GTMO" or "Gitmo," covers 116 square kilometres on the western and eastern banks of the bay, it was established in 1898, when the United States took control of Cuba from Spain following the Spanish–American War. The newly formed American protectorate incorporated the Platt Amendment in the 1901 Cuban Constitution.
A perpetual lease for the area around Guantánamo Bay was offered February 23, 1903, from Tomás Estrada Palma, the first President of Cuba. The 1903 Cuban–American Treaty of Relations held, among other things, that the United States, for the purposes of operating coaling and naval stations, has "complete jurisdiction and control" of the Guantánamo Bay, while the Republic of Cuba is recognized to retain ultimate sovereignty. In 1934 a new Cuban-American Treaty of Relations reaffirming the lease granted Cuba and its trading partners free access through the bay, modified the lease payment from $2,000 in U. S. gold coins per year to the 1934 equivalent value of $4,085 in U. S. dollars, made the lease permanent unless both governments agreed to break it or until the U. S. abandoned the base property. After the Cuban Revolution, Dwight D. Eisenhower insisted the status of the base remain unchanged, despite Fidel Castro's objections. Since the Cuban government has cashed only one of the rent checks from the U.
S. government, then only because of "confusion" in the early days of the leftist revolution, according to Castro. The remaining un-cashed checks made out to "Treasurer General of the Republic" are kept in Castro's office stuffed into a desk drawer. Alfred-Maurice de Zayas has
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository, used to house a large portion of the United States' official gold reserves; the 109,000 acre base covers parts of Bullitt and Meade counties. It holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, it is named in honor of Henry Knox, Chief of Artillery in the American Revolutionary War and first United States Secretary of War. For 60 years, Fort Knox was the home of the U. S. Army Armor Center and the U. S. Army Armor School, was used by both the Army and the Marine Corps to train crews on the American tanks of the day; the history of the U. S. Army's Cavalry and Armored forces, of General George S. Patton's career, is located at the General George Patton Museum on the grounds of Fort Knox; the United States Department of the Treasury has maintained the Bullion Depository on the post since 1937. Parts of the base in Hardin and Meade counties form a census-designated place, which had a population of 12,377 at the 2000 census and 10,124 at the 2010 census.
The George S. Patton Museum and Center of Leadership at Fort Knox includes an exhibit highlighting leadership issues that arose from the attacks of 11 September 2001, which includes two firetrucks. One of them, designated Foam 161, was charred and melted in the attack upon the Pentagon. Fort Knox is the location of the United States Army's Human Resources Command's Timothy Maude Center of Excellence, named in honor of Lieutenant General Timothy Maude, the highest-ranking member of the U. S. military to die in the attacks of 11 September 2001. In 2012, the U. S. Army Armor School was relocated to "The Maneuver Center of Excellence" at FT Benning, GA. Fortifications were constructed near the site in 1861, during the Civil War when Fort Duffield was constructed. Fort Duffield was located on what was known as Muldraugh Hill on a strategic point overlooking the confluence of the Salt and Ohio Rivers and the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike; the area was contested by Confederate forces. Bands of organized guerrillas raided the area during the war.
John Hunt Morgan and the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment of the Confederate Army raided the area before staging his famous raid across Indiana and Ohio. After the war, the area now occupied. In October 1903, military maneuvers for the Regular Army and the National Guards of several states were held at West Point and the surrounding area. In April 1918, field artillery units from Camp Zachary Taylor arrived at West Point for training. 20,000 acres near the village of Stithton were leased to the government and construction for a permanent training center was started in July 1918. The new camp was named after Henry Knox, the Continental Army's chief of artillery during the Revolutionary War and the country's first Secretary of War; the camp was extended by the purchase of a further 40,000 acres in June 1918 and construction properly began in July 1918. The building program was reduced following the end of the war and reduced further following cuts to the army in 1921 after the National Defense Act of 1920.
The camp was reduced and became a semi-permanent training center for the 5th Corps Area for Reserve Officer training, the National Guard, Citizen's Military Training Camps. For a short while, from 1925 to 1928, the area was designated as "Camp Henry Knox National Forest." The post contains an airfield, called Godman Army Airfield, used by the United States Army Air Corps, its successor, the United States Army Air Forces as a training base during World War II. It was used by the Kentucky Air National Guard for several years after the war until they relocated to Standiford Field in Louisville; the airfield is still in use by the United States Army Aviation Branch. For protection after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and the Gettysburg Address were all moved for safekeeping to the United States Bullion Depository until Major W. C. Hatfield ordered its release after the D-Day Landings on 19 September 1944. In 1931 a small force of the mechanized cavalry was assigned to Camp Knox to use it as a training site.
The camp was renamed Fort Knox. The 1st Cavalry Regiment arrived in the month to become the 1st Cavalry Regiment. In 1936 the 1st was joined by the 13th to become the 7th Cavalry Brigade; the site became the center for mechanization tactics and doctrine. The success of the German mechanized units at the start of World War II was a major impetus to operations at the fort. A new Armored Force was established in July 1940 with its headquarters at Fort Knox with the 7th Cavalry Brigade becoming the 1st Armored Division; the Armored Force School and the Armored Force Replacement Center were sited at Fort Knox in October 1940, their successors remained there until 2010, when the Armor School moved to Fort Benning, Georgia. The site was expanded to cope with its new role. By 1943, there were 3,820 buildings on 106,861 acres. A third of the post has been torn down within the last ten years, with another third slated by 2010. In 1947, Fort Knox hosted the Universal Military Training Experimental Unit, a six-month project that aimed to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of providing new 18-20 year-old Army recruits with basic military training that emphasized physical and spiritual well-being.
This project
Abu Ghraib prison
Abu Ghraib prison is a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, located 32 kilometers west of Baghdad. Abu Ghraib prison was opened in the 1950s and served as a maximum-security prison with torture, weekly executions, vile living conditions. From the 1980s the prison was used by Saddam Hussein to hold political prisoners, developing a reputation for torture and extrajudicial killing, was closed in 2002. Abu Ghraib gained international attention in 2003 following the Invasion of Iraq, when a scandal involving the torture and abuse of detainees committed by guards in part of the complex operated by US-led Coalition occupation forces was exposed. In 2006, the United States transferred complete control of Abu Ghraib to the Federal government of Iraq, was reopened in 2009 as Baghdad Central Prison but was closed in 2014 due to security concerns from the Iraqi Civil War; the prison complex is vacant, Saddam-era mass graves have been uncovered at the site. The prison was built by British contractors in the 1950s.
The prison held as many as 15,000 inmates in 2001. In 2002, Saddam Hussein's government began an expansion project to add six new cellblocks to the prison. In October 2002, he gave amnesty to most prisoners in Iraq. After the prisoners were released and the prison was left empty, it was looted. All of the documents relating to prisoners were piled and burnt inside of prison offices and cells, leading to extensive structural damage. Known mass-graves related to Abu Ghraib include: Khan Dhari, west of Baghdad - Mass grave with the bodies of political prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Fifteen victims were executed on 26 December 1998 and buried by prison authorities under the cover of darkness. Al-Zahedi, on the western outskirts of Baghdad - Secret graves near a civilian cemetery contain the remains of nearly 1,000 political prisoners. According to an eyewitness, 10 to 15 bodies arrived at a time from the Abu Ghraib prison and were buried by local civilians. An execution on 10 December 1999 in Abu Ghraib claimed the lives of 101 people in one day.
On 9 March 2000, 58 prisoners were killed at a time. The last corpse interred was number 993. From 2003 until August 2006, Abu Ghraib prison was used for detention purposes by both the U. S.-led coalition occupying Iraq and the Iraqi government. The Iraqi government has controlled the area of the facility known as "The Hard Site"; the prison was used to house only convicted criminals. Suspected criminals, insurgents or those arrested and awaiting trial were held at other facilities known as "camps" in U. S. military parlance. The U. S. housed all its detainees at "Camp Redemption", divided into five security levels. This camp built in the summer of 2004 replaced the three-level setup of Camp Ganci, Camp Vigilant and Abu Ghraib's Tier 1; the remainder of the facility was occupied by the U. S. military. Abu Ghraib served as both a detention facility; when the U. S. military was using the Abu Ghraib prison as a detention facility, it housed 7,490 prisoners there in March 2004. Population of detainees was much smaller, because Camp Redemption had a much smaller capacity than Camp Ganci had, many detainees have been sent from Abu Ghraib to Camp Bucca for this reason.
The U. S. military held all "persons of interest" in Camp Redemption. Some were suspected rebels, some suspected criminals; those convicted by trial in Iraqi court are transferred to the Iraqi-run Hard Site. In the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal, reserve soldiers from the 327th Military Police battalion were charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with prisoner abuse, beginning with an Army Criminal Investigation Division investigation on January 14, 2004. In April 2004, U. S. television news-magazine 60 Minutes reported on a story from the magazine The New Yorker, which recounted torture and humiliation of Iraqi detainees by U. S. contracted civilians. The story included photographs depicting the abuse of prisoners; the events created a substantial political scandal within the U. S. and other coalition countries. On April 20, 2004, insurgents fired 40 mortar rounds into the prison, killing 24 detainees and injuring 92. Commentators thought the attack was either an attempt to incite a riot or retribution for detainees' cooperating with the United States.
In May 2004, the U. S.-led coalition embarked on a prisoner-release policy to reduce numbers to fewer than 2,000. The U. S. military released nearly 1,000 detainees at the prison during the week ending August 27, 2005, at the request of the Iraqi government. In a May 24, 2004 address at the U. S. Army War College, President George W. Bush announced. On June 14 Iraqi interim President Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer said. S. military judge Col. James Pohl ruled the prison was a crime scene and could not be demolished until investigations and trials were completed. On April 2, 2005, the prison was attacked by more than 60 insurgents in the engagement known as the Battle of Abu Ghraib. In the two hours before being forced to retreat, the attackers suffered at least 50 casualties according to the U. S. military. Thirty-six persons at or in the prison, including U. S. military personnel and detainees, were injured in the attack. The attackers used small arms, RPGs as weapons, threw grenades over the walls. A suicide VBIED detonated just outside the front wall.
Officials believe that the car bomb was intended to breach the prison wall, enabling an assault and/or mass escape for detainees. Insurgents attacked military forces nearby on highways en route
32nd Infantry Division (United States)
The United States 32nd Infantry Division was formed from Army National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan and fought during World War I and World War II. With roots as the Iron Brigade in the American Civil War, the division's ancestral units came to be referred to as the Iron Jaw Division. During tough combat in France in World War I, it soon acquired from the French the nickname Les Terribles, referring to its fortitude in advancing over terrain others could not, it was the first allied division to pierce the German Hindenburg Line of defense, the 32nd adopted its shoulder patch. It became known as the Red Arrow Division. During World War II, the division was credited with many "firsts", it was the first United States division to deploy as an entire unit overseas and among the first of seven U. S. Army and U. S. Marine units to engage in offensive ground combat operations during 1942; the division was among the first divisions to engage the enemy and were still fighting holdouts after the official Japanese surrender.
The 32nd logged a total of 654 days of combat during World War II, more than any other United States Army division. The unit was inactivated in 1946 after occupation duty in Japan. During 1961, the division was called up for a one-year tour of service in the state of Washington during the Berlin Crisis. In 1967, the 32nd Infantry Division was inactivated and reorganized as the 32nd Infantry Brigade, the largest unit of the Wisconsin Army National Guard; when the United States declared war on Germany on 11 April 1917, the Wisconsin Adjutant General ordered the Milwaukee troops to add a squadron, Troop C and Troop D were added. The Guard units' Troop A and Troop B had been mustered out of federal service less than a year earlier on 20 October 1916 and 6 March 1917, respectively; the Adjutant General directed the unit to add a new regiment, the Second and Third Squadrons were formed as the First Wisconsin Cavalry, with units organized in various cities. Troop E commanded by Captain John S. Coney was formed in Kenosha on 10 May 1917, the Wisconsin Cavalry was formed on 29 May 1917.
Only two months the 32nd Division was activated in July 1917 at Camp MacArthur, Texas of National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan. Wisconsin furnished 15,000 men, another 8,000 troops came from Michigan; the division was made up of the 125th and 126th Infantry Regiments and the 127th and 128th Infantry Regiments, as well as three artillery regiments within the 57th Field Artillery Brigade. On 4 August 1917, Battery F, 121st Field Artillery regiment was the first unit to arrive at Camp MacArthur; the remainder arrived as soon. On 26 August 1917, Major General James Parker assumed command. General Parker had been awarded the Medal of Honor during the Philippine–American War. On 18 September 1917, General Parker left for France on special duty with his Chief of Staff, Lieut. Col. E. H. DeArmond. Brigadier General William G. Haan assumed command in his absence; when General Parker returned in December, he was immediately transferred to the 85th Infantry Division at Camp Custer, Michigan. General Haan assumed command once again.
In keeping with the 1917 Army Tables of Organizations, he reorganized the division during September to increase the number of men in each regiment. The 120th Field Artillery Regiment was organized on 22 September 1917 at Camp MacArthur, as a part of the 57th Field Artillery Brigade, better known as the Iron Brigade; the nickname originated with the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry and was traditionally given to crack artillery units in the Civil War. Once at Camp MacArthur, the division was resupplied for their overseas assignment. Shortly before the division left for France, 4,000 National Army troops from Wisconsin and Michigan were transferred to the division. Captain Alien L. Briggs returned to Camp MacArthur to assist with training, he had been an Aide-de-camp to General Parker and had been in Europe when the war broke out in 1914. He had observed the training methods used in military schools in France; as training intensified in preparation for leaving for France, five French and four British officers, along with several non-commissioned officers, joined the division as instructors.
A trench system was built outside the camp in which the division practiced the techniques of trench warfare. There was a continual shortage of equipment that hampered training in the artillery and machine gun battalions. Additional training for junior and non-commissioned officers was implemented, General Haan offered additional daily instruction to the brigade and battalion commanders. By early December, it had received the equipment assigned to it and was judged to be ready for deployment. War Department inspectors found the division more advanced in its training than any other division in the United States. Orders were received in late December, the first troops left Waco on 2 January 1918 for the New York Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, New Jersey; the infantry was moved first. The unit received its first casualties. Brigadier General William G. Haan led the unit; the 32nd Division arrived on the Western Front in February 1918. The 32nd was the sixth U. S. division to join the American Expeditionary Force, under General John J. Pershing.
The unit's morale was temporarily lessened when they learned they were assigned to create a depot for I Corps that would train replacement soldiers. Maj
