The former Borrego Maneuver Area was acquired by the Department of the Army through a Use Permit with the State of California dated 10 March 1942. Referenced improvements to the Maneuver Area included primarily roads. Navy sites, specifically Naval Clarks Dry Lake and the Borrego (Military) Wash target areas, were predominately used as bombing, gunnery, rocketry targets and emergency landing strips. Expected and/or observed military improvements at the bombing targets include remains of rake stations, remains of mobile target tracks, and remains of targets. Reported uses of the area by the Army included force-on-force maneuvers and anti-aircraft training for troops stationed at Camp Callan, San Diego, California. The Marine site (Camp Ensign) was reportedly used as a tent camp for trainees from the San Diego area. Marine activity in the maneuver area consisted solely of desert driving training.

The Borrego Maneuver Area consisted of 400 square miles (256,000 acres) located in eastern portion of San Diego County and western portion of Imperial County, California with the northern boundary at the Riverside County line, the eastern boundary at U.S. Highway 99 (now Highway 66 ) , the southern boundary at State Highway 16, and the western boundary along a line north-south through Borrego P.Q. Excluded from this area were three areas: an Indian Reservation on a portion of Township 9 South, Range 9 East lying between Highway 99 and the Santa Rosa Mountains; Benson's Dry Lake lying north of Ocotillo (Naval landing field); and the area adjacent to the western boundary on which houses, fences and other improvements have been erected.

On 13 July 1944, the Commanding General, Headquarters, Army Ground Forces declared the Borrego Maneuver Area as surplus to the requirements of the Army Ground Forces. Termination of the land use permit is believed to have occurred in October 1944, after Army use areas were determined to be appropriately prepared for transfer. The 400 square miles which constituted the Maneuver Area were predominately relinquished back to the State of California, which owns the property today as part of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Army related activity within the Borrego Maneuver Area consisted of the following:

1. In September 1943, then Camp Callan Anti-Aircraft Replacement Training Center of San Diego, California, secured the Borrego Maneuver Area for field training purposes. Anti-Aircraft Artillery firing was also conducted at this maneuver area, in addition to such firing as was conducted at the post reservation firing point in San Diego.
   
   
2. When new AA replacement units at Camp Callan completed a basic training of 8 to 15 weeks duration, they were sent to the Borrego desert for a final two weeks of training in “dry run” and “live fire” training. “Live fire” anti-aircraft firing ranges in the valley were said to have been north of Clarks Dry Lake and at the Borrego Mountain. Some of the Camp Callan training batteries made their dry runs in the Borrego Valley, then completed their field exercises by live firing at Camp Haan. Other training batteries did both the dry runs and live firing in the valley. Although guns of up to 155mm were possibly transported to the property, only smaller caliber weapons (.30 caliber to 90mm) fired live ammunition. Guns for larger ammunition were fired at Camp Haan.

Marine and Navy related activities within the Borrego Maneuver Area consisted of the following:

1. Marines established a Camp at the Ensign Ranch in Borrego Springs where trainees from San Diego billeted, known as Camp Ensign. Groups of Marine trainees rotated through the camp for periods of about a week during which they gained proficiency in driving military trucks at night. Although their practice course is not known, it is believed that they used the few gravel roads near the ranch and drove freely across the surrounding desert.
   
   
2. Navy related activity within the Borrego Maneuver Area consisted of replacement pilot and crew training in bombing, gunnery, and rocketry ant the Naval Clarks Dry Lake and the Borrego (Military) Wash target areas. Personnel scoring and observation of ordnance related missions are evident by the presence of rake stations. Occasional maintenance and improvement of these emergency landing/target areas is also suspected. Navy pilots provided air monitoring support during Army AA firing at pilotless planes/drones. The pilot was responsible for chasing and shooting down any errant drone which escaped from is ground controller.

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