I ran across an old (2000) Christmas gift that I hadn't read yet: "The Test of Battle" by Paul Braim. It's a study of the performance of the AEF (American Expeditionary Force) during 1917-1918, when the US entered WWI. It was disturbing to read just how unprepared the (just drafted) US military was for that war; The US sector was able to push the German army back mainly via sheer weight of numbers and attrition - quite different from the modern military's approach to war.

This anecdote from the end of the book kind of sums that up: Smythe cited a pithy summary on this matter [ed: the poor/nonexistent training given to the troops] by the American military author Harvey DeWeerd: "The AEF learned to fight through bitter experience, not through any legerdemain with the rifle".

Technorati Tags: history, WWI