Complex sentence: The Army provided engineers and materials for the construction of rudimentary accommodations and, in March of 1935, the first colonization expedition to the American Equatorial Islands set out from Honolulu aboard Itasca.
Split into simpler sentences: The Army provided engineers and materials for the construction of rudimentary accommodations. In March of 1935, the first colonization expedition to the American Equatorial Islands set out from Honolulu aboard Itasca.