Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion World War I began in August 1914. On October 19, 1914, Bullard enlisted and was assigned to the 3rd
Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion (R.M.L.E.), as foreign volunteers were allowed only to serve in the
Foreign Legion. By 1915, Bullard was a machine gunner and saw combat on the Somme front in
Picardy. In May and June, he was at Artois, and in the fall of that year fought in the
Second Battle of Champagne (September 25November 6, 1915) along the
Meuse River. He was assigned to the
3rd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment. On July 13, 1915, he joined the
2nd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment and also served with the . The
2nd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment and the
2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment were serving as part of the
1st Moroccan Division. Commanded initially by
Hubert Lyautey, Resident-General of Morocco at the outbreak of World War I, the division was a mix of the Metropolitan and Colonial French troops, including Legionnaires,
zouaves and
tirailleurs. Towards the end of the war, the 1st Moroccan Division became one of the most decorated units in the French Army. The Foreign Legion suffered high casualties in 1915. It started the year with 21,887 soldiers,
NCOs, and officers, but ended with only 10,683. Bullard opted to serve in the 170th Infantry Regiment, and the 170 military insignia is displayed on his uniform collar. At the start of 1916, the 170th Infantry along with the , to which the regiment belonged from February 1915 to December 1916, was sent to Verdun. During his convalescence, Bullard was cited for acts of valor at the orders of the regiment on July 3, 1917, and was awarded the
croix de guerre.
Aviation While serving with the 170th Infantry, Bullard was seriously wounded in action in March 1916 at the
Battle of Verdun. While recuperating, he learned to fly on a bet. After recovering, he volunteered on October 2, 1916, for the
French Air Service () as an
air gunner. He was accepted and underwent training at the
Aerial Gunnery School in Cazaux,
Gironde. which was a designation for all American pilots who served with the French Air Service, rather than the name of a specific unit. American volunteers flew with French pilots in different pursuit and bomber/reconnaissance aero squadrons on the Western Front.
Edmund L. Gros, who facilitated the incorporation of American pilots in the French Air Service, listed in the October 1917 issue of
Flying, an official publication of the
Aero Club of America, Bullard's name is on the member roster of the Lafayette Flying Corps. On June 28, 1917, Bullard was promoted to
corporal. The squadron was equipped with
Nieuport and
Spad aircraft that displayed a flying stork/swan as the squadron insignia. Bullard's service record also includes Squadron N.85 (), September 13, 1917 – November 11, 1917, which had a bull insignia. He took part in more than twenty combat missions, and he is sometimes credited with shooting down one or two German aircraft (sources differ). When the United States entered the war, the
United States Army Air Service convened a medical board to recruit Americans serving in the Lafayette Flying Corps for the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Forces. Bullard went through the medical examination, but he was not accepted, as only white pilots were chosen. Some time later, while on a short break from duty in Paris, Bullard allegedly got into an argument with a French commissioned officer and was punished by being transferred to the service battalion of the French 170th Infantry Regiment in January 1918. He served beyond the
Armistice, not being discharged until October 24, 1919. ==Interwar years==