Mrs. Fannie Hunt Denie with her aides, a petty officer and a Jacky, and prospect in front of tent used as a naval recruiting office at the entrance to Central Park, N.Y. Central News Photo Service, photographer, April 14, 1917. Prior to the outbreak of World War I, military recruitment in the US was conducted primarily by individual states. Upon entering the war, however, the federal government took on an increased role. Over two million soldiers were transported from the United States across the enemy submarine-infested Atlantic Ocean to stations in Britain and France. The troop transports were mostly shepherded by American naval vessels. Not one soldier was lost by enemy sub action during these outward voyages.