The American Expeditionary Forces, Communications and the First World War: A Case Study in Inter-Allied Learning

By adopting an inter-organisational learning model to the case study of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) Signal Corps during the First World War, this article seeks to position the neglected subject of inter-allied learning within the broader context of the contentious debates surrounding the AEF’s training and military operations. Employing American, British, and French sources, the article examines the experiences of the AEF Signal Corps, an organisation whose role and influence historians of the AEF have largely overlooked and failed to fully appreciate. It argues that although recent interpretations of the AEF’s receptivity to certain British and French methods are generally correct, they underestimate the varied and interconnected nature of the driving influences that shaped the AEF’s learning processes, as well as the collaborative and reciprocal characteristics of inter-allied learning more broadly.

The participation of African Americans in the American Expeditionary Forces during the World War I

This article examines the participation of African Americans in the World War I in the ranks of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during the 1917 – 1918. The author studies the attitude of the African-American community towards participation in the World War I, describes the peculiarities of military service of African American soldiers in the American Expeditionary Forces, and reveals the manifestations of racial discrimination. The article also reviews the attitude of French soldiers and officers towards African American soldiers of the U. S. Army, analyzes the impact of the acquired combat experience and sociocultural interaction with foreign soldiers upon the activity of African American population in fighting for their rights and freedoms in the United States. In Russian historiography, the participation of African Americans in the American Expeditionary Forces during the World War I, peculiarities of their service, and the impact of war on self-consciousness of this category of military servicemen have not previously become the subject of special research. Based on the article. The conclusion is made that the attitude of African American community towards participation in the World War I was quite ambiguous. Their soldiers faced different forms of discrimination during their military service: they could not serve in the Marine Corps and other elite units, and most of the time were engaged in the rear. A different experience received African American soldiers from the units transferred under the leadership of the French Army, whose officers treated them with respect; the blood shed for their country, combat experience and respectful of the allies enhanced desire of the African Americans to gain equal civil rights and freedoms in their homeland.

“Complete Continence Is Wholly Possible”

This chapter examines U.S. Army deployments to France during the First World War and the occupations of France and Germany in the aftermath of the war. At the outset of American involvement in World War I, army and War Department officials were especially concerned with how they might cope with an anticipated venereal epidemic, and how to deal with expected problems from romantic fraternization between American soldiers and the European women they would encounter while deployed. This chapter also examines uses the experiences of the American Expeditionary Forces to illuminate differing conceptions of masculinity and sexual propriety for the officer corps and enlisted men.

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Support for the American Expeditionary Forces by the US Army Medical Corps During World War I

Context Historical research on pathology and laboratory medicine services in World War I has been limited. In the Spanish American War, these efforts were primarily focused on tropical diseases. World War I problems that could be addressed by pathology and laboratory medicine were strikingly different because of the new field of clinical pathology. Geographic differences, changing war tactics, and trench warfare created new issues. Objectives To describe the scope of pathology and laboratory medicine services in World War I and the value these services brought to the war effort. Methods Available primary and secondary sources related to American Expeditionary Forces' laboratory services were analyzed and contrasted with the British and German approaches. Results The United States entered the war in April 1917. Colonel Joseph Siler, MD, a career medical officer, was the director, and Colonel Louis B. Wilson, MD, head of pathology at the Mayo Clinic, was appointed assistant director of the US Army Medical Corps Division of Laboratories and Infectious Disease, based in Dijon, France. During the next year, they organized 300 efficient laboratories to support the American Expeditionary Forces. Autopsies were performed to better understand treatment of battlefield injuries, effects of chemical warfare agents, and the influenza pandemic; autopsies also generated teaching specimens for the US Army Medical Museum. Bacteriology services focused on communicable diseases. Laboratory testing for social diseases was very aggressive. Significant advances in blood transfusion techniques, which allowed brief blood storage, occurred during the war but were not primarily overseen by laboratory services. Conclusions Both Siler and Wilson received Distinguished Service Medals. Wilson's vision for military pathology services helped transform American civilian laboratory services in the 1920s.