The 9th Reconnaissance Wing is responsible for providing national and theater command authorities with timely, reliable, high-quality, high-altitude reconnaissance products. To accomplish this mission, the wing is equipped with the nation's fleet of U-2 and RQ-4 reconnaissance aircraft and associated support equipment. The wing also maintains a high state of readiness in its combat support and combat service support forces for potential deployment in response to theater contingencies. The 9th Reconnaissance Wing is composed of more than 3,000 personnel in four groups at Beale and multiple overseas operating locations.

Major Missions:

U-2

The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, high-altitude aircraft flown by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency. It provides day and night, very high-altitude (70,000 feet/21,000 meters), all-weather surveillance. The aircraft is also used for electronic sensor research and development, satellite calibration, and satellite data validation.

Global Hawk

Global Hawks, designed and manufactured by Northrop-Grumman, provide Air Force and joint battlefield commanders near-real-time, high-resolution, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance imagery to assist ground troops.

"A distinctive aspect of the Global Hawk is that it can be flown anywhere in the world by pilots here at Beale Air Force Base," said Maj. Randall Sechler, chief of RQ-4 operations. "Our pilots are flying missions in Iraq daily, but they're doing it from the Beale flightline."

Beale's Global Hawks also assisted with the Southern California wildfires in 2007 by using thermal imagery to locate hot spots where fires were still burning. Sensors then conveyed the coordinates to ground crews, which allowed firefighters to navigate to the area and put out the flames.

T-38

The Northrop T-38 Talon is an American supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic trainer and to date, is also the most produced. It remains in service as of 2009 in air forces throughout the world including the United States Air Force (USAF), which remains its largest user.

The basic airframe was used for the light combat aircraft F-5 Freedom Fighter family. In addition to USAF pilots, T-38s are also used by NASA astronauts, the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School (other T-38s were previously used as USN aggressor aircraft), other NATO pilots under a joint training program, and some under civilian ownership.

Beale's History: Past to Present

Beale Air Force Base not only has a unique mission, but it was named for an unique individual. Unlike most other bases that were named for aviators, Beale was named for Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1822-1893), the nineteenth-century pioneer. Beale graduated from the Naval Academy, served in the California militia and led the experiment to replace Army mules with camels. Camp Beale opened in October 1942 as a training site for the 13th Armored and the 81st and 96th Infantry Divisions. During World War II, Camp Beale's 86,000 acres were home for more than 60,000 soldiers, a prisoner-of-war encampment and a 1,000-bed hospital. In 1948, the camp transferred from the Army to the Air Force.

Current Leadership: Colonel Paul H. McGillicuddy

Colonel Paul H. McGillicuddy is Commander, 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale Air Force Base, Calif. He is responsible for approximately 7,000 military, civilian and contractor personnel. He is also responsible for the Air Force's entire high-altitude reconnaissance fleet composed of three U-2 squadrons, a Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle squadron, four groups and five overseas operating locations. Colonel McGillicuddy develops and executes worldwide reconnaissance missions with an annual flying allocation of more than 22,000 hours.