"On December 9, 1939, the
Department of Agriculture and Clemson Agriculture [sic] College entered into a cooperative and license agreement. On June 27, 1942, the college granted the
War Department an occupation permit for lands to develop the range. The War department [sic] also purchased an additional 265 acres within the boundaries of the target. The total area for the range summed 4,096 acres." Three ranges were designated, the
Practice Bombing Range, a land range, the Skip Bombing Range, and a Potential 3rd Target Range to the north which was apparently not used. Water targets with bullseyes, suspended on cables stretched across the lake were used for the skip-bombing practice in which low-flying bombers literally "skipped" their bombs off the water just like skimming a stone, the purpose of which was to allow accurate striking of target vessels on the water. A yellow dye was placed in the water immediately surrounding the target and used for scoring purposes, accomplished by visual approximation. The land range was used for medium-altitude target practice and had a impact area and included three circles with markers and three spotting towers. It consisted of located on top a hill east of the
Keowee River and west of Lake Issaqueena. Munitions used were primarily M38A2 100-pound Practice Bombs (about 14 pounds without sand), with M1A1 Spotting Charges in the tailfin box. Use of the range came to an end in September 1945 with the conclusion of wartime training and all personnel except for two caretakers were withdrawn. On December 17, 1945, the range was declared excess to the needs of the Army Air Force. Control of the Issaqueena Bombing Range was transferred from Greenville AAB to Shaw Field, later
Shaw AFB,
Sumter, South Carolina on January 14, 1946 with the deactivation of the Greenville operation. By May 1946 most of the structures and military property had been removed. ==First remediation==