Camp Rice was established at this site in the spring of 1942 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 theatre of operations that included portions of California, Arizona and Nevada, and its other camps were Young, Coxcomb, Granite, Iron Mountain, Ibis, Clipper, Pilot Knob, Laguna, Horn, Hyder and Bouse. A total of 13 infantry divisions and 7 armored divisions, plus numerous smaller units, trained in this harsh environment. The training center operated for almost 2 years and closed early in 1944 when the last units were shipped overseas. During its brief operation, more than one million American soldiers were trained for combat. The 5th Armored Division, nicknamed "The Victory Division," was the first unit trained at Camp Rice and began combat operations in France in July 1944, quickly gaining a reputation for combat excellence as it spearheaded the Normandy breakout of the 3rd Army. It was the first division to reach the Seine River, first to enter Belgium, first to reach and liberate Luxembourg, first to fight on German soil, and first to plunge through the Siegfried Line. On V-E Day, the 5th Armored Division was on the Elbe River 45 miles from Berlin. Its campaigns were Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. Soldiers who served here fought in the defeat of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan.