Originally Posted by
Airbubba
A former colleague who flew right seat on the VC-25A says that he came from the USAF C-130 community.
This is simply not true in my observation. An E-4 is always on alert but domestically at least, I don't see it following AF1.
Can you provide a source or cite for this claim? There are similar oft-repeated urban legends about how the President and Vice President never ride on the same aircraft and the President only travels on four-engine planes.
Here's a typical news item about the E-4s following AF1 in a Spokane, Washington newspaper. But, they admit that AF1 is probably nowhere around.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...-arrives-at-f/
How did the E-4 prove its worth after the 9/11 attacks? There was an annual GLOBAL GUARDIAN (not VALIANT GUARDIAN as some sources say) exercise in progress and I think all four E-4s were airborne or on alert that morning.
Sorry, I forgot to include in my post for overseas trips. Of course there'd be no need for domestic travel.
I am also fairly certain that GWB spent a lot of time in an E-4 when everything was going on and he was trying to get things figured out. I don't recall that huge amount of time being airborne, being exclusively in the VC-25.