BEALE AFB, Calif. — Beale Air Force Base has made its home in Yuba County, with some 4,500 military personnel stationed on the 23,000-acre site.
It hosts the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, which supplies reconnaissance products to national and theater command authorities and stays at the ready with combat support forces for potential deployment, according to the Air Force.
The decades-old base has a lot of history under its wings. Here are five things to know about the Beale AFB.
Camp Beale
Beale AFB, as the base is often referred to, stands for Beale Air Force Base. That being said, the actual base was started as Camp Beale back in 1942.
Back then, it was known as Camp Beale under the Army as opposed to the Air Force. It was a training site for some infantry divisions before the base was transferred to the Air Force in 1948.
The "Dragon," the "Talon," and the "Hawk"
Over at Beale AFB, you might find three different kinds of aircraft: U-2 Dragon Lady, T-38 Talon, and RQ-4 Global Hawk.
The U-2 is typically used by a single pilot for surveillance and reconnaissance during the day or night. It has long and narrow wings that give it "glider-like " characteristics and officials say it's garnered a widely accepted title as the most difficult aircraft in the world to fly.
The RQ-4 Global Hawk is capable of day or night surveillance and reconnaissance capability. In contrast to the U-2, this aircraft is remotely piloted.
The T-38 Talon is described as a supersonic jet trainer that finds use in many roles. Officials say the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has also used the aircraft as trainers for astronauts.
How Beale got its name
Beale Air Force Base got its name from Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a 19th Century pioneer who graduated from the naval academy, served in the California militia, and even led an experiment to replace Army mules with camels.
PAVE PAWS
PAVE PAWS is an acronym for PAVE Phased Array Warning System. It's a radar system that lets the base detect submarine-launched ballistic missiles and can even conduct space surveillance and satellite tracking.
