Camp Beale (site)
USA /
California /
Penn Valley /
World
/ USA
/ California
/ Penn Valley
World / United States / California
Second World War 1939-1945, military, camp, draw only border
The polygon outline (zoom out to the 2-mile scale view to see it fully) more or less shows the larger part--the smaller, more current area of 23,000 acres belonging to today's Beale AFB--of Camp Beale's historical boundaries. Clean-up and restoration efforts are currently underway by the Army Corps of Engineers to remove unexploded ordnance left over from Beale's bombing, mortar and firearm training days.
Unlike most Air Force bases, which since the birth of the Air Force in September 1947 have carried the name of famous aviators, Beale was named for Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1822-1893), the nineteenth century pioneer. Beale graduated from the Naval Academy, served in the California State Militia, led the experiment to replace Army mules with camels, and who was one of California's largest landholders. 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 1000-bed hospital. In 1948, the camp transferred from the Army to the Air Force.
The Air Force conducted bombardier and navigator training at Beale and, in 1951, reactivated the Beale Bombing and Gunnery Range for aviation engineer training. The base has been under several commands including: Air Training Command, Continental Air Command, Aviation Engineer Force, Strategic Air Command and, on June 1, 1992, the newly created Air Combat Command.
Read more of Beale's extensive history here: www.militarymuseum.org/Beale.html
www.campbeale.org/proj_profile/index.html
www.beale.af.mil/
Unlike most Air Force bases, which since the birth of the Air Force in September 1947 have carried the name of famous aviators, Beale was named for Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1822-1893), the nineteenth century pioneer. Beale graduated from the Naval Academy, served in the California State Militia, led the experiment to replace Army mules with camels, and who was one of California's largest landholders. 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 1000-bed hospital. In 1948, the camp transferred from the Army to the Air Force.
The Air Force conducted bombardier and navigator training at Beale and, in 1951, reactivated the Beale Bombing and Gunnery Range for aviation engineer training. The base has been under several commands including: Air Training Command, Continental Air Command, Aviation Engineer Force, Strategic Air Command and, on June 1, 1992, the newly created Air Combat Command.
Read more of Beale's extensive history here: www.militarymuseum.org/Beale.html
www.campbeale.org/proj_profile/index.html
www.beale.af.mil/
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beale_AFB
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 39°7'25"N 121°17'20"W
- Camp Stoneman (site) 134 km
- Skaggs Island 142 km
- Camp Essex - Desert Training Center/California-Arizona Maneuver Area (site) 716 km
- Camp Clipper (site) 719 km
- Borrego Valley Manuever Area 773 km
- Camp Iron Mountain (site) 779 km
- Camp Granite (site) 783 km
- Camp Coxcomb (site) 788 km
- Poston War Relocation Center 834 km
- Los Alamos National Laboratory 1365 km
- Three Bridges Area 6.7 km
- Spenceville Wildlife Area 8.7 km
- Beale Air Force Base (IATA: BAB – ICAO: KBAB) 10 km
- Weapons Storage Area 12 km
- Gold Dredge Mining area 15 km
- Olivehurst, California 22 km
- Linda, California 23 km
- Collins Lake 25 km
- Loma Rica, California 25 km
- South Yuba City, California 30 km
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