Camp Bouse was established in Butler Valley 30 miles behind this site in Sept. of 1943 as one of twelve camps built in the southwestern deserts to harden and train United States troops for service on the battlefields of World War II. The desert training center was a simulated theater of operations that included portions of California and Arizona, and the other camps were Young, Coxcomb, Granite, Iron Mountain, Ibis Clipper, Pilot Knob, Laguna, Horn, Hyder and Rice. Camp Bouse was the home of the 9th tank group, which consisted of six tank battalions, one armored infantry battalion, an ordnance company and a station hospital, and the group trained in absolute secrecy mainly at night. Its light device consisted of a high powered search light mounted in an armored housing on a tank, intended to temporarily blind the enemy at night. The role of the 526th Infantry was to defend the operations of the CD tanks and attack if the tanks' security was threatened. The 526th AIB was separated from the 9th tank group in France in August 1944 and was assigned to the 12th Army Group HDQ under Gen. Omar Bradley, and "C" Company became a security unit for Gen. Bradley in Luxembourg. The remainder of the battalion was heavily involved during the Battle of the Bulge, fighting in the Belgian towns of Trois-Ponts, Stavelot, Malmedy, Hedomont, Bougnee, and Geromont. After the Bulge and until VE Day, the 526th became part of "T" Force, whose missions were to seize, safeguard and process enemy documents, archives and material of intelligence or counter-intelligence and to capture enemy agents, military officers and key collaborators.