News

  • Beale’s Sheet Metal Shop: A Link in the Chain of American Airpower

    In ancient times, blacksmiths morphed metal to create the tools and weapons that won wars. Today, Aircraft Structural Maintenance (ASM) Airmen continue that tradition by forging strength in the modern skies.The 9th Maintenance Squadron (MXS) ASM shop is responsible for ensuring the structural

  • Sword Athena: A Year of Progress at Beale

    SWORD ATHENA was established in 2020 and is composed of Airmen across ACC with the goal to identify, tackle, and propose solutions to female and family centric barriers to readiness.Beale’s local team was founded in February 2023 in order to combat some of the clear disadvantages that service women

  • Perspectives from 20 years in AMMO

    I joined the Air Force in October 2003, and have been an AMMO troop for over 20 years now. I’ve have had assignments to Barksdale Air Force Base, Osan Air Base twice, Seymour Johnson, and then 9 years at Nellis AFB before getting picked up to be an instructor at Beale AFB for the 9th Munitions

  • Women Leading Women: Master Sgt. Jessica Abad

    Master Sgt. Jessica Abad joined the U.S. Air Force 17 years ago as an airborne cryptologic language analyst. At that time, women occupied 14.4% of the Air Force and an even smaller percentage contributed to the population of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance warriors.

  • My Air Force Experience

    When people look up at the sky and see planes defying the laws of gravity, sound and speed, the first thought on making the impossible possible is not often about the aircraft maintainers. Yet it’s the maintainers and their meticulous attention to detail and technical expertise that ensures each

  • TU-2S Dragon Lady 1078’s Resurrection: Rebirth of the “Silver Dragon”

    TU-2S Dragon Lady 1078’s silver frame stood out in the sunny blue sky, Feb. 15, as it conducted its first flight in 1,030 days. After almost three years of extensive maintenance in a collaborative effort between the 9th Maintenance Group and Lockheed Martin, aircraft 1078 spread her wings again.On

  • First Bath, Last Breath

    No barriers have been broken, and no pioneering firsts have been achieved. I don’t fly planes, and I don’t load bombs. Feeling like a legitimate Airman can be challenging when I am not calling in air strikes or digesting endless streams of intel footage. I often feel like a fraud when someone thanks

  • Serving our Country is What I Love

    At 21 years old, I was so excited to serve, and I didn’t even realize I was getting paid for it. Coming from a household supported by the Pell Grant, and at times welfare, that first airman 1st class paycheck shocked me.The only person in my family who had served was a grandparent drafted into the

  • New Paws on the Ground

    Beale’s K-9 unit recently welcomed a 66 pound, friendly Belgian Malinois into the unit. Military Working Dog (MWD) Azur is a new narcotics detection dog and was brought in to replace one of the other dogs in the unit when they retired.