News United States Air Force
 End of an era: U-2 flies last OBC missionPublished July 14, 2022
                        
                        By 2nd. Lt. Hailey M. Toledo, 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs
                **BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) --**
                The Air Force’s high-altitude, all-weather reconnaissance aircraft, the******U-2 Dragon Lady**,recently flew **Beale Air Force Base’s**last Optical Bar Camera mission. 
 TheOBC mission, which captures daylight acquisition of high-altitude photographs, will transition to forward operating locations supported by the **National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency**. This move allows processors to consolidate film closer to mission-required reconnaissance collection. 
 “This event closes a decades-long chapter for BealeAFB and film processing, and it opens another chapter into the digital world,” said Adam Marigliani, Collins Aerospace engineering support specialist. 
 Collins Aerospace works alongside Beale AFB’s **9th Intelligence Squadron**to download OBC imagery from global U-2 missions in support of Air Force objectives.

End of an Era: U-2 flew it's last OBCLt. Col. Ralph Shoukry, U-2 Dragon Lady pilot, greets the audience before the Optical Bar Camera's final flight out of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing June 24, 2022, at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. Although the OBC will no longer reside at Beale AFB, U-2 pilots will retain the knowledge and skills to employ the sensor through a variety of mission sets and operation locations around the world. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Colville McFee)
            
            
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    End of an Era: U-2 flew it's last OBCThe U-2 dragon lady takes off for the Optical Bar Camera's final flight out of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, June 24, 2022, at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. The OBC mission operated out of Beale AFB for close to 52 years, with the first OBC deploying from Beale AFB in 1974. (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Hailey M. Toledo)
            
            
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    End of an Era: U-2 flew it's last OBCLt. Col. James Gaiser and Lt. Col. Ralph Shoukry greet after the Optical Bar Camera's final flight out of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing June 24, 2022 at Beale Air Force Base, California. Although the OBC will no longer reside at Beale, U-2 pilots will retain the knowledge and skills to employ the sensor through a variety of mission sets and operation locations around the world. (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Hailey M. Toledo)
            
            
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 The OBC mission operated out of BealeAFB for close to 52 years, with the first U-2 OBC deploying from Beale AFB in 1974. Pulled from the **SR-71**, the OBC was modified and flight-tested to support the U-2 platform, replacing the long-standing IRIS sensor. While the IRIS’s 24-inch focal length provided widespread coverage, the OBC’s 30-inch focal length allowed for significantly greater resolution. 
 “The U-2 retains the capability to fly the OBC mission worldwide and, if called upon, to execute in a dynamic force employment capacity,” said Lt. Col. JamesGaiser, 99th Reconnaissance Squadron commander. 
 The OBC deployed to support various missions, including Hurricane Katrina relief, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station incident, as well asoperations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa. 
 When operating over Afghanistan, the U-2 imaged the entire country every 90 days and units across the Department of Defense used the OBC’s imagery to plan operations. 
 “All U-2 pilots will retain the knowledge and skills to employ the sensor through a variety of mission sets and operation locations to meet priority intelligence collection needs of the geographic combatant commanders as tasked,”Gaiser said. “With a growing need for more diverse collection requirements, the U-2 program will evolve to maintain combat relevance with a variety of C5ISR-T capabilities and combat air forces integration roles.” 
 The end of the OBC at BealeAFB allows for mission units and partners to focus a greater weight of effort on emergent capabilities, tactics, techniques, and procedures, as well as concepts of employment directly supporting pacing threat problem sets to advance the overall mission of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing.LR 



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