McClellan Air Force Base McClellan Air Force Base ( 1935 – 2001 ) is a former United States Air Force base located in the North Highlands area of Sacramento County , northeast of Sacramento , California . For the vast majority of its operational lifetime , McClellan was a logistics and maintenance facility for a wide variety of military aircraft , equipment and supplies , primarily under the cognizance of the Air Force Logistics Command ( AFLC ) and later the Air Force Materiel Command ( AFMC ) . The United States Coast Guard previously operated Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento at McClellan AFB as a tenant activity , operating and maintaining several HC - 130 Hercules aircraft . CGAS Sacramento continues to operate at McClellan following its closure as an Air Force Base and is the only remaining military aviation unit and installation on the airfield . History . McClellan Air Force Base , was established in 1935 . It was named after Major Hezekiah McClellan ( 1894 – 1936 ) on 1 December 1939 , a pioneer in arctic aeronautical tests . Major McClellan was a posthumous recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross who prepared early charts and records while pioneering Alaskan air routes . He died on 25 May 1936 when his Consolidated P - 30 which he was flight testing , crashed near Centerville , Ohio . Construction of the Pacific Air Depot began in 1935 , and the main structures , including administrative buildings , barracks , warehouses and a hospital were completed on 18 April 1938 . It was one of only four such air depot s in the country . In 1938 the base was renamed Sacramento Air Depot and underwent a major expansion as a repair and overhaul facility for P - 38 and P - 39 fighter planes . The planes were serviced on an assembly line basis . In 1940 an assembly line was added to overhaul P - 40 fighters . In December 1941 , soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor , P - 40s as well as B - 26 and B - 17 bombers began arriving at the field to be armed and prepared for immediate shipment overseas . Some B - 17s came direct to McClellan from the factories . During this time most of the Army Air Forces planes that went to the Pacific Theater were prepared at McClellan . In March 1942 Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle ' s B - 25s arrived at McClellan for arming in preparation for their famous Tokyo raid . The Doolittle Raiders practiced their aircraft carrier takeoff techniques at the Willows Airport in Glenn County , about 90 miles north on Highway 99 : The airport runway was painted to represent the flight deck of the aircraft carrier . During World War II , numerous planes arrived at McClellan from all over the U . S . to be armed and otherwise prepared for shipment overseas to combat areas . After the war McClellan became a storage center of several types of aircraft including B - 29 bombers . The base was renamed McClellan Air Force Base in 1948 and its repair and overhaul mission continued throughout the Cold War as an installation of the Air Force Logistics Command ( AFLC ) and later the Air Force Materiel Command ( AFMC ) , with the overhaul facility being known as the Sacramento Air Logistics Center . During the 1950s and 1960s , the base also hosted the 552d Airborne Early Warning Wing , operating RC - 121 and EC - 121 Warning Star aircraft . After the Cold War ended , McClellan ' s closure was announced in 1995 by the BRAC Commission during the Clinton administration . Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s , McClellan functioned as the main depot for overhauling the Air Force ' s F - 111 , FB - 111 and EF - 111 aircraft , as well as the A - 10 Thunderbolt II aircraft . It also hosted a tenant WC - 135 unit and supported the sophisticated electronic Operation Red Flag at Nellis AFB Nevada . A small contingent of F - 111D and F - 111F aircraft of the 431 Test & Evaluation Squadron , 57 Fighter Weapons Wing , Nellis AFB Nevada was also detached to McClellan . Accidents . While the Aviation Safety Network , part of FlightSafety . org , lists only one crash of a Curtis C - 46 as originating from McClellan AFB on 18 February 1944 , another crash involving an RC - 121 also at takeoff , is documented on a military reunion site . A TF - 104 departed and returned for an emergency landing and crashed on the runway on approach in 1964 , killing both crew . Current status . McClellan AFB was closed as a result of BRAC 1995 . After it officially closed on 13 July 2001 , portions of McClellan and the surrounding area were converted into a business park . The chemicals used in aircraft maintenance , such as solvents , caustic cleaners , fuel oils and lubricants have caused extensive contamination at McClellan , particularly of groundwater . In addition , there are small amounts of radioactive waste at the base . The contamination was the result of leaks of pipes and storage tanks , spills , landfills and fire training areas . At one time , it was one of the most heavily polluted bases in the nation . Cleanup started in the 1980s . , it is still ongoing and expected to take at least another decade . McClellan is listed on the United States Environmental Protection Agency ' s National Priorities List as part of the Superfund created during the 1980s . McClellan ' s air traffic control tower remains standing , but was deactivated following the closure of McClellan AFB . However , the airfield ' s navigational aids such as the VOR / DME and ILS remain operational . McClellan Airfield now operates as an uncontrolled ( non - towered ) joint civil - military airfield with various mixed - use tenants as part of McClellan Park . The remaining military activity consists of Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento , operating HC - 130 Hercules aircraft , as well as an AAFES BX , a commissary and VA Outpatient Clinic VA Hospital which are primarily utilized by Coast Guard personnel , military retirees and National Guard and Reserve personnel , and their immediate families / dependents in the Sacramento area . McClellan is also the home of the Aerospace Museum of California . Since 2002 , the base has also been home to the Pacific Region Campus for the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps . Aerospace Museum of California . The former McClellan Air Force Base is also the home of the Aerospace Museum of California . The museum itself was originally set up as the McClellan Aviation Museum in 1986 ( before the McClellan AFB closed ) . It was chartered by the National Museum of the United States Air Force and in 2005 it changed its name to the California Aerospace Museum . Various military aircraft sit on display inside one of the hangars , and many more are outside on the tarmac . The museum has displays which highlight the mission of the base when it was active , as well as neighboring bases such as Beale AFB , Travis AFB and the since closed Mather AFB . The museum hosts educational programs to schools in the local area .