The West Virginia Maneuver Area (WVMA) was a vast, five-county training ground in the
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...
of eastern
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
used by the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
to train soldiers in low-altitude mountain operations. This area was selected due to its similarity to the mountainous terrain of
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and other areas within the
European Theater of Operations
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground For ...
.
History of the WVMA
Army maneuvers commenced within the WVMA in August 1943 under the command of the
13th Army Corps. The local command was headquartered at
Elkins and included a
signal battalion,
quartermaster detachment,
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
unit, a
special services company,
engineers
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
,
ordnance
Ordnance may refer to:
Military and defense
*Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment.
**The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...
and other support elements.
Training activities were confined to
Randolph Randolph may refer to:
Places In the United States
* Randolph, Alabama, an unincorporated community
* Randolph, Arizona, a populated place
* Randolph, California, a village merged into the city of Brea
* Randolph, Illinois, an unincorporated commun ...
and four adjacent counties including mostly land of the
Monongahela National Forest
The Monongahela National Forest is a national forest located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It protects over of federally managed land within a proclamation boundary that includes much of the Potomac Highlands Regi ...
, but also some private land. Tent cities were erected in Elkins and other local communities to house large numbers of troops; the number swelled to 16,000 by early 1944 as classes cycled though 8-week rotations.
Artillery training utilized a area in the eastern portion of the WVMA, including parts of
Dolly Sods
The Dolly Sods Wilderness – originally simply Dolly Sods – is a U.S. Wilderness Area in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, US, and is part of the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS).
Dolly Sods ...
(e.g., Blackbird Knob
[*Keating, Steve (2010), ''A Dolly Sods North - Blackwater Companion: A Guide to Hiking Through the History, Geology and Ecology of the Region''; ]Parsons, West Virginia
Parsons is the county seat and largest city in Tucker County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,322 at the 2020 census. The mayor of Parsons is Dorothy Judy and the city administrator is Jason Myers. The city is also governed by ...
: McClain Printing, pg 316.) and
Canaan Valley
Canaan Valley () is a large bathtub-shaped upland valley in northeastern Tucker County, West Virginia, USA. Within it are extensive wetlands and the headwaters of the Blackwater River which spills out of the valley at Blackwater Falls. It is a wel ...
, for practice firing with
105mm and
155mm howitzers. Notices in the local newspaper warned local hunters and others to avoid this area during maneuvers. Improvised river crossings were conducted at the
Blackwater and
Dry Fork Rivers, among others.
Both
Seneca Rocks
Seneca Rocks is a large crag and local landmark in Pendleton County in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, United States. The south peak is one of a small number of peaks inaccessible except by technical rock climbing techniques on the East ...
and the
Blackwater Canyon
Blackwater Canyon is a rugged, heavily wooded, long gorge carved by the Blackwater River in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. For many years, it has been the object of controversy as environmental activists have contended wit ...
were utilized for mountain climbing instruction. In July 1943 a detachment from
Camp Hale
Camp Hale was a U.S. Army training facility in the western United States, constructed in 1942 for what became the 10th Mountain Division. Located in central Colorado between Red Cliff and Leadville in the Eagle River valley, it was named for ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, instituted high-angle rock and
assault climbing instruction at Seneca Rocks. Approximately 180 soldiers cycled through this course every 2 weeks. Instruction ranged from simple rock
scrambling
Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. It is also used to describe terrain that falls between hiking and rock climbing (as a “scramb ...
to tension cable work with
piton
A piton (; also called ''pin'' or ''peg'') in climbing is a metal spike (usually steel) that is driven into a crack or seam in the climbing surface using a climbing hammer, and which acts as an anchor for protecting the climber against the ...
s, including
rigging
Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—''standing rigging'', including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they are ...
skills and use of assault ropes with pulleys. Each class concluded with two tactical night climbs on unfamiliar rocks.
Pack mule techniques were taught at a mule school set up near
Gladwin.
Between July 1943 and July 1944 when training ended, more than 100,000 soldiers were trained in the WVMA, among them the
94th Signal Battalion which fought in the
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...
.
Ordnance in the WVMA today
For such a large operation, the maneuvers in the WVMA left relatively few permanent changes. Indeed, many of the areas, such as Dolly Sods, are now protected areas that pass as modern "wildernesses", untouched by the hand of man. Nevertheless,
old ordnance (artillery and mortar shells) is still occasionally found in these areas. A WVMA project was authorized under the
Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) that was established by section 211 of the
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act
Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency ...
of 1986 and is codified in Sections 2701-2707 of Title 10 of the
United States Code
In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...
. DERP addresses the removal and remedial clean-up activities at active sites under the
Installation Restoration Program (IRP) and at Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS). In 1997, a highly trained ordnance disposal crew surveyed the trail locations and known campsites at Dolly Sods for shells. Fifteen were found, some of them still live. All were exploded on site. Many more may still exist.
References
Further reading
*Rice, Donald L., "West Virginia Maneuver Area", ''
Goldenseal ''For the magazine from West Virginia see Goldenseal (magazine)''
Goldenseal (''Hydrastis canadensis''), also called orangeroot or yellow puccoon, is a perennial herb in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to North America. It may be di ...
'', Summer 1991.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers WVMA webpage
External links
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Website on Reporting UneXploded Ordnance (UXO) in the WVMA
{{coord, 38, 55, N, 79, 45, W, region:US-WV_scale:250000, display=title
Closed installations of the United States Army
Monongahela National Forest
Geography of Randolph County, West Virginia
Geography of Pendleton County, West Virginia