Story by Staff Sgt. Frederick Brown | 9th Reconnaissance Wing | 12.17.2024
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Charlie Toomer, 9th Maintenance Squadron egress systems craftsman, joined the Air Force in November of 1970. Originally from Georgia, he wanted to follow his brother and work on the railroad. However, with the Vietnam War raging on, his draft number came up and Toomer was given a choice; get placed in the military branch the government wanted or make his own......
Story by Senior Airman Colville McFee | 9th Reconnaissance Wing | 04.20.2020
The U-2 Dragon lady is vital to the mission globally and in order to keep the mission going the plane needs to be maintained, to do that, Airmen from the 9th Maintenance Squadron (MXS) deconstruct the plane during phase maintenance....
Story by Airman Luis Ruiz-Vazquez | 9th Reconnaissance Wing | 04.07.2020
To keep children safe from the pandemic, schools across the U.S. have shut down. This has caused a problem for families who rely on school lunches to keep their children fed. To combat this issue many school districts are preparing lunches for students....
Story by Airman Luis Ruiz-Vazquez | 9th Reconnaissance Wing | 01.14.2020
When a plane goes down, an ejection seat keeps pilots from going down with it. Ejecting from an ejection seat is not something a pilot wants to do, but it is something they have to do in case of an emergency where everything else in an aircraft fails. It is their last chance at survival, and their lives rest on the hands of aircrew egress system specialists....
Story by Airman Luis Ruiz-Vazquez | 9th Reconnaissance Wing | 01.10.2020
Delivering superior reconnaissance capability in support of national objectives is one of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing’s main priorities. To accomplish this mission Beale is equipped with reconnaissance aircraft; the U-2 Dragon Lady, the RQ-4 Global Hawk, and aircraft that keep U-2 pilots proficient, like the T-38 Talon. Everyone plays a part in keeping these aircraft in the air, but it all......
Story by Senior Airman Tristan Viglianco | 9th Reconnaissance Wing | 07.26.2019
The unmistakable roar of the U-2 Dragon Lady during takeoff and its vertical ascent can be heard far and wide across Beale just about every day of the week. While maintenance units from across the base are responsible for sortie production, the 9th Maintenance Squadron aerospace propulsion shop makes sure the roar isn’t a whimper....
Story by Senior Airman Tristan Viglianco | 9th Reconnaissance Wing | 06.12.2019
The U-2 Dragon Lady has a long and storied history, which means the component parts do as well. The ejection seat, arguably one of the most important components, is currently undergoing a large upgrade....
Story by Senior Airman Tristan Viglianco | 9th Reconnaissance Wing | 01.08.2019
Reconnaissance is the oldest mission set in combat aviation making the U-2 Dragon Lady essential to the mission of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and the Air Force as a whole. Ensuring the long-term performance of the U-2 falls upon a team of Airmen in the 9th Maintenance Squadron who perform phase maintenance on the airframe....
