The USAAC

The Federalized Ambulance Service. When the United States finally entered the war in 1917, the French and British sent a commission to coordinate joint operations with their new allies.   Asked by the Americans how they could help immediately---- the American Army was not yet ready--- the French requested that the Americans follow the example of their volunteer ambulance services (which had been in the field since 1914).  This led to the creation of the United States Army Ambulance Corps, 10 times the size of the existing AFS, which absorbed most of the volunteer personnel.   The men were mostly recruited from colleges in the US, were trained at Fort Crane in Allentown, PA.   They served the French Army and therefore are to be distinguished from the American ambulance units serving the American Expeditionary Forces.