ON A CLEAR APRIL MORNING, I drive California State Route 62 west into the Mojave Desert searching for traces of what was once the world’s largest military training ground. More than one million soldiers passed through the Desert Training Center (DTC) between April 1942 and April 1944. Most had already completed basic training and welcomed the call to California. When they disembarked at the long-gone depots of the Santa Fe Railroad spur that parallels this highway, any fantasies of Pacific beaches and Hollywood stars were vanquished by the reality of a bleak, arid expanse fenced by distant sawtooth mountains.
By the time the United States entered World War II, British troops had been battling German and Italian advances in Libya and Egypt for 15 months. While none of the belligerents in North Africa proved ready to fight effectively in the sand and extreme heat, the Germans adapted faster than the Allies. As the United States prepared to join the campaign, it recognized the need to modify armored strategies and tactics and prepare
