the battle-worthiness of different types of defensive works if they were attacked by various types of cannons and howitzers. In 1911, he received three patents (998,711; 998,712; 1,007,223) for his designs of new artillery projectiles. McNair's skills in technical drawing, engineering, prototype building, and statistical analysis began to be known Army-wide; in 1912 the commandant of the Field Artillery School requested him by name for assignment to his staff. Instructors at the school had spent more than a year gathering information on 7,000 rounds fired during tests and field exercises; because the school was short-staffed, the commandant called on McNair to compile the data into firing tables that would make it easier for Artillery crews Army-wide to plan and control indirect fire. While carrying out this assignment in 1913, he also spent seven months in France to observe and gather information on the French Army's artillery training, education, and employment. In April 1914, McNair was promoted to permanent captain, and from April to November 1914, McNair took part in the Veracruz Expedition as the 4th Field Artillery Regiment's commissary officer. Assigned following another by name request, this time from regimental commander Lucien Grant Berry, McNair was responsible for procuring, storing, maintaining, accounting for, and distributing the regiment's materiel, including equipment and weapons. During 1915 and 1916, he was again assigned to the Field Artillery School, where he continued to work on procedures for the implementation of the firing table data he had published. He also continued to experiment with different types of artillery pieces so he could make manufacturing and procurement recommendations as the Army began to prepare for possible involvement in World War I. He returned to the 4th Field Artillery Regiment for the Pancho Villa Expedition on the Texas-Mexico border; initially an unassigned staff officer available for additional duties, he later commanded a battery. World War I In April 1917, the United States entered World War I. The next month, he was promoted to major and assigned to temporary duty as an instructor for the officer training camp at Leon Springs, Texas. After his Leon Springs assignment, McNair was assigned to the newly created 1st Division, then located at Camp Stewart, in El Paso County, Texas. Assigned to the division headquarters as assistant chief of staff for training, McNair was given responsibility for the organization's pre-deployment mobilization, individual soldier training, and collective unit training. When the division departed