American Lake Prepares for Wartime Enlistment
The War Department announces plans for a massive training camp at American Lake to prepare thousands of recruits for the Great War.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Plans to establish a civilian training camp for reserve officers at American Lake have been announced by the war department and a camp capable of accommodating a school of from 2,000 to 5,000 civilian applicants for commissions in the army will be established at the Lake probably early in May. This officers’ school is to be in charge of regular army officers and will provide for training all applicants in the western division. It is a part of the comprehensive plan of the war department to provide the necessary officers for the new army that is to be raised to make effective America’s participation in the war.
“Plans to establish a civilian training camp for reserve officers at American Lake have been announced by the war department.”
This article captures the immediate local mobilization efforts in Washington as the United States entered World War I. American Lake, now Joint Base Lewis-McChord, remains a foundational site for military training a century later.
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