Beale Air Force Base, Marysville, California
There were three partitions inside the long building that housed the mission control center for the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron. Each compartment was called a cockpit but they looked more like standard work station cubicles found in typical corporate office suites. The air inside the structure was dehumidified and air-conditioned to protect the sophisticated electronic equipment while the lighting was color-corrected and kept intentionally dimmed to avoid glare on the LED screens that seemed to be everywhere either streaming video or scrolling data.
The Air Force brigadier general who commanded the reconnaissance group at Beale pointed to the right-hand cubicle and steered Bayer in that direction. “That’s your mission, designated Hawk Three Z
