Military Wife Confessions

Beale AFB Official Site

Located 50 miles north of the California state capitol of Sacramento, and 140 miles north of the ethnically diverse and culturally rich San Francisco Bay Area, Beale is host to a small community of 3,500 active duty members (600 officers and 2,900 enlisted personnel). Family members bring the base population to just over 8,000. There are approximately 540 civilians and almost 1,000 reservists working on the base. Approximately 13,000 retirees, widows, and retiree family members fall under the Beale AFB cachement area of responsibility.

Beale's 23,000 acres of rolling hills, scenic pastureland, fresh water lakes and streams are situated at the north end of the Greater Sacramento Valley. Beale is an outdoorsman's and sports enthusiast's paradise. The base's vast acreage contains seven lakes, some of which are stocked with sport fish. Pacific king salmon run in the months of July and August on the nearby Feather River. Pheasant, deer and turkey hunting is available on base by permit through a lottery system. Snow skiing, hiking, camping, river rafting and scuba diving opportunities abound at locations less than two hours away, including the internationally renowned Squaw Valley Ski Resort, Lake Tahoe, the Giant Redwood Forest and Yosemite National Park. Cultural and educational activities along with festivals are ongoing in the surrounding communities. Outdoor Recreation sponsors a large number of tours to the surrounding areas including the Napa valley. Shoppers will find outlet stores, specialty shops, and shopping malls in nearby Sacramento, Grass Valley, Nevada City, Roseville, and Vacaville. Many find Beale's rural nature to be a relaxing and enjoyable experience.

Beale AFB not only has a unique mission, it was named for a unique individual. Beale was named for Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1822-1893), the man who founded the Army Camel Corps and who was one of California's largest landholders. Beale graduated from the Naval Academy, served in the California militia, and led the Camel Corps experiment. He is also credited with helping to bring the California Indian wars to an end. Camp Beale was first 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.

Today Beale AFB is the home for the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, the T-38 jet trainer, and most recently, KC-135 aircraft. Beale AFB has a unique name and mission, a historic past, and a promising future. For more information about Beale's interesting history along with its historical, botanical, and archelogical sites, stop by the base library and read "Pebbles in the Stream" by Peggy Bal. Additional information about the base, each of the squadrons, PCS information, and hyperlinks to many of the base and community services can be found on the Beale homepage web site.

 via Military.com

Official site: http://www.beale.af.mil/

Enlisted spouses site: http://bealespouses.com/

Services (activities) site: http://bealeservices.com/

Buy-Sell-Trade site: http://www.bealeclassifieds.com/

The base itself is VERY large - there are 2 "main" roads that will lead you from main base to the housing part of base and vice-versa. Housing is approximately 8 miles from main base, and approximately 2 miles from the base clinic. The base clinic has a pediatric as well as family practice that most family members are able to be seen at, but for the most part health care is done via referral to either Sutter Roseville or Fremont-Rideout in Yuba City. Both hospitals are easily a 30-60 minute drive away depending on traffic and weather conditions.

The BX is quite small - so small, in fact, we have no seperate customer service department. One of the four registers at the front of the store serves this purpose. Because of this, many people prefer to drive to Walmart or Target, both of which are 20-30 minutes away. The commissary itself is decently stocked, though a bit expensive for the products they carry. They require you to tip the grocery baggers, something that is typically suggested at other bases (I used to bag groceries 2 years ago). We have a local bank on base that most people use to cash checks, get a car loan, or switch to temporarily while residing here. The food "court" is non-existant - we have an Anthony's Pizza and Robin Hood sandwich shoppe that is barely surviving due to a Subway recently opening at the Shoppette/Class Six by housing. We do have a Burger King on base, but they are often being criticized for serving cold food and getting orders way off. We do have a few other locations you can eat lunch or dinner at, and they all have good reviews. One of the favorite places  to eat is at the bowling alley - the food is reasonably priced, bowling is cheap, and rarely crowded even on a busy Friday or Saturday evening.

The base library has plenty of computers available to be used, and has recently become a wi-fi hotspot, a first for Beale. The book stock is quite limited, however. The education center itself, which is located within the library, offers an assortment of classes for military personnel as well as spouses and family members.

The housing list is not horribly long, however, they are in the process of demolishing half of the base housing which is causing the waiting time to extend a bit. Beale has been around for quite some time, and many of the homes are overrun with asbestos, black mold, and black widow spiders. The base has four seperate housing areas - the officer "court", mountain view housing (newer, single family homes), old garryana (old duplexes that are being demolished, 2 bedroom homes only), three bridges (old duplexes, some are being demolished, 3-4 bedroom), and finally the new division (new duplexes, single family homes, mostly 2 bedroom; there are only four 3-4 bedroom duplexes built at this time).

Depending on which part of housing you live in, the pet restrictions vary (weird, I know). The duplexes only allow 2 pets, and have weight limits, while the new single family homes allow 3 pets and no weight limit. The vet clinic on base has very limited resources, and most pets are taken to local vets off base. You are required to register your pet with the veterinary clinic within 5 days of arriving.

Beale has it's own elementary school, and their CDC waiting list is through the roof currently. They are supposed to be expanding the facilities in the next year to better accomodate families. There are plenty of family oriented groups you can become involved in while you're at Beale: deployment support, breastfeeding groups, toddler groups, newborn groups, first time parent groups, stroller walks every Thursday, etc. The youth center has after school activities as well as planned trips. The Outdoor Adventure Center (OAC) takes monthly trips to San Francisco, Monterey, Whale Watching, as well as to other local areas of interest.

Roseville is approximately 40 minutes away from base; Sacramento is closer to 60 minutes away; Chico is approximately 2.5 - 3 hours away; North Lake Tahoe is approximately 3 hours away.

Other random facts include: Beale hosts an Air Show on base that is free, and open to the public every 2-3 years. This is a huge event, and usually brings a very large turn out. Fishing is definitely popular amongst Beale residents, as is hunting. One of Beale's biggest issues is drinking and driving - the base usually does not go more than 7 days without a DUI.