Beale AFB, CA

Beale Air Force Base (IATA: BAB, ICAO: KBAB, FAA LID: BAB) is a United States Air Force base in Yuba County, California (near Marysville), that was established in 1943. It is also a census-designated place (CDP) with a population of 5,115 as of the 2000 census. The base was named for Brigadier General Edward Fitzgerald Beale.

The host wing is the 9th Reconnaissance Wing (9 RW) of the Air Combat Command (ACC), which includes an operations group, a maintenance group, a mission support group and a medical group.

Beale’s mission is to produce immediate Battle Space Effects, and uses the U-2 and the RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft and associated support equipment to accomplish this. The wing also operates the T-38 Talon and previously operated the SR-71 Blackbird. The base is also home to the 940th Air Refueling Wing (940 ARW), an Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) unit operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC) and flying the KC-135 Stratotanker. Additionally, the 13th Reconnaissance Squadron, part of the 610th Regional Support Group in the 10th Air Force, conducts RQ-4 training at Beale.