According to the 5 May 1917 organization plan of National Guard divisions, the Alabama, Florida, and Georgia guard units were to form the 10th Division, though it was not organized at the time. On 18 July, the War Department designated the National Guard troops of these three states to form the 31st Division. For training, the division was directed to concentrate at Camp Wheeler on 3 August; the Alabama, Florida, and Georgia National Guards were drafted into federal service two days later. However, the units of the 31st did not begin concentration until 25 August, when Major General Francis Joseph Kernan took command. Kernan was replaced by 56th Field Artillery Brigade commander Brigadier General John Louis Hayden, the senior brigade commander, on 18 September.