The West Virginia Maneuver Area (WVMA) was a vast, five-county training ground in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia used by the U.S. Army during World War II to train soldiers in low-altitude mountain operations.
The local command was headquartered at Elkins and included a signal battalion, quartermaster detachment, military police unit, a special services company, engineers, ordnance and other support elements.
Artillery training utilized a 60,000-acre (240 km2) area in the eastern portion of the WVMA, including parts of Dolly Sods (e.g., Blackbird Knob[1]) and Canaan Valley, for practice firing with 105 mm and 155 mm howitzers.
Instruction ranged from simple rock scrambling to tension cable work with pitons, including rigging skills and use of assault ropes with pulleys.
In 1997, a highly trained ordnance disposal crew surveyed the trail locations and known campsites at Dolly Sods for shells.