The Army activated the segregated 97th Engineering Battalion on June 1, 1941 at Camp Blanding, Florida. In November they moved to Eglin Field, Florida to construct and maintain roads, bombing ranges and auxiliary landing fields.
In early 1942 the urgent Alaska Highway project needed more regiments. The Corps of Engineers, with no white engineering regiments to spare, reluctantly decided to create and send segregated black regiments. Accordingly, on February 22, 1942, the Army turned the 97th Engineering Battalion into the 97th Engineering Regiment; and, even as the new regiment rushed to incorporate cadre and hundreds of new soldiers, the Army ordered it to Alaska.