Secret Service mandated if I recall from my time there.
Contract Towers Restricting Services
- Thread starter mcdewey
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jayhawk74
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So the Secret Service doesn't trust the Air Force to provide safe takeoff and landing instructions to AF1. But they do trust the Air Force to maintain and operate AF1.
Pretty much. I flew out of Andrews for 10 years with VAQ-209. When the VIPs (Pres, VP, Sec state) or foreign leaders were landing there was a ramp freeze. No military or anyone else was allowed upon the ramp. No flight operations for 30 minutes prior until the VIP had left. The schedule changed often with no warning. Bingo'ed to Pax river several times as they tend to hang around the ramp talking. Also was in a jet turning and just pulled arming pins and the SS showed up telling us to shut down because they were moving the window. They didn't care that we were launching to make an exercise window with a billion dollar cruiser and a half dozen other aircraft and that doing on a turn on the jet took an hour if we shut it down.
I lost a lot of respect for the SS being there,
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