Training TalkTraining Talk.

Camp Pike was its own literal boom town with the crack of bolt-action rifle fire, the rat-a-tat-tat staccato of machine guns sending bullets down range, the blast of grenades, all crowned by the rumble of artillery rounds sent tearing through the sky to earth-shattering impact.

Combat training included bayonet runs, horsemanship and chemical warfare defense. The proper use of a gas mask, prompted by the introduction of poisonous gas on the World War I battlefield, was a new addition to basic training.

Portions of the Camp Pike landscape were transformed into mock battlefields with trenchworks and shell craters. Military advisors from France helped oversee training to assure authenticity.

Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.