As the 24 hours have passed I can confirm that Bear's turd search led him to the correct airfield. Chico Regional in northern California. The airfield existed before WW2 but was leased to the military in 1941 to become an Army Air Corps training base. Returned to the city of Chico after the war but a site just outside the old airfield boundary became a ballistic missile (Titan) launch site between 1961 and 1965. The airfield itself was used for stratospheric balloon launching between 1961 and around 1980. The aircraft in the background of Bear's picture is an AT802 Fire Boss of which quite a few are based there. There is an air museum on site with around 20 aircraft on display together with a fair amount of military and NASA memorabilia.
There is also a very good craft beer brewery nearby (don't ask how I know),
Self Loading Bear has control.