Only the fall of France in June 1940 injected some urgency into their training operations, and on 27 August 1940, Congress authorized inducting the National Guard into federal service. Eighteen National Guard divisions were activated, including the 32nd. On 16 September 1940 Congress authorized the first peacetime draft in United States history. When the division was federalized on 15 October 1940, It was authorized to have a peacetime strength of about 11,600 soldiers, but like almost all units in the National Guard and the Regular Army prior to World War II, was not at full strength nor was it assigned all of the equipment it was authorized. Training for many soldiers was incomplete. The division was scheduled to receive a year of training. In October 1940, the division began a six-day motor march to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. On 26 January 1941, the 32nd Division relocated to the recently completed Camp Livingston, about northeast of Alexandria, Louisiana. The unit then spent the next 16 months training in Louisiana. During the summer of 1941, the division moved to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. as part in the Third and Fourth Army maneuvers—nicknamed the Louisiana Maneuvers—which provided the army high command a good look at the preparedness of the regiment. The first test, which was held in the vicinity of Camp Beauregard, was conducted 16–27 June and included the 32nd Division as well as the 37th Division from Ohio. From 16–30 August, the maneuvers expanded to include the 34th and 38th Divisions. During September, the largest maneuvers were held with the Seventh Corps of the Second Army, opposing the Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Corps of the Third Army. The Grand Rapids Guard was part of the Fifth Corps. It was the largest maneuver of its kind in the history of the Army and included some 100,000 men. National Guard units were at the time not required to serve active duty outside of the western hemisphere and draftees were inducted for a maximum of one year of service. But on 7 August 1941, by a margin of a single vote, Congress approved an indefinite extension of service for the Guard, draftees, and Reserve officers, including the Red Arrow Division. World War II During January and February 1942, the division lost one of its infantry regiments when, like all U.S. Army divisions, its "square" infantry division structure was reorganized into a triangular organization, centered on three instead