Were the doughboys well prepared for the war they found in france?

Question

what was the most surprising about the conditions they encountered?

any help will be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

No they had to be trained, to the conditions of trench warfare, basically they had to learn sometimes the hard way what the Allied Forces had learned from bitter experience in the previous 4 years, they also initially were equipped with Allied weaponry, such as the French 75mm and Allied Rifles, because America was not geared up for the war and it took time for enough supplies from America to catch up.

Before the American Expeditionary Force went to France the Americans had no experience of trench warfare, it was if you like on the job training, but their early lack of experience was made up for the enthusiasm and willingness to fight.
Most of the Coloured American Regiments were seconded to the French who having used Colonial African troops had no bias towards color, many Americans believing that coloureds could not be taught to fight!!

These coloured units served with great distinction and won many medals and awards from the French.

Answer 2

No they werent...

The AEF was woefully unprepared and equipped for the Trenches

The Issue shoe was a magnet for immersion foot injuries, the choker collar of the tunic wholly impractical. The M1910 Haversack was an abomination.

We wound up stuck with the worst Light Machinegun on the Planet- The French Mle. 1915 Chauchat Machine Rifle(most were thrown away upon jamming)

No American Made Artillery Piece, or Tank made it into theater before the armistice

Most surprising was the French Armys lack of emphasis on Rifle Marksmanship. American Soldiers turned out to be superb marksmen, but French Doctrine of their Trainers never fathomed that if you hit your enemy with aimed fire he wont get to your trench

Answer 3

In WWI it is said the troops didn't get adequate preparation for dealing with gas attacks and, consequently, unnecessesarily high numbers suffered from chlorine and mustard gas attacks by the Germans.
In addition to that...the adventure was no walk-in-the park.