The Civilian Conservation Corps was founded in 1933 to recruit thousands of unemployed young men and enroll them in a peacetime army to protect and maintain our national resources. Before the end of the program (WWII) they would enroll 3 million young men. The Army was put in charge of the project and they had to pivot and remobilize to fulfill their charge. At the time transportation was a major goal as the participants built bridges, roadways and tunnels for the expanding number of automobiles. They also improved federal, state and other public lands. These projects were mostly in the Western part of the country while the majority of the unemployed men came from the Eastern U.S. cities. A large percentage of the men enlisted in the military services after Pearl Harbor. As one of the interviewees stated: The men were already used to all the military ways – following orders, living in groups, discipline and hard work – that the only areas they needed to be trained on was firearms and combat. The CCC was never officially dissolved but the War caused a shift in focus and it was simply defunded.