As America’s entry into World War I seemed increasingly likely, President Woodrow Wilson and Congress readied for the coming conflict, with the National Defense Act of 1916. Signed by President Wilson on June 3, the act bolstered U.S. military preparedness in a number of ways, including the creation of a Veterinary Corps within the U.S. Army.
When Congress declared war on the German Empire in April 1917, the Army employed 57 veterinarians working mostly in the area of equine surgery and medicine.