Everyone's heard of Air Force One, the 747 model VC-25 used by the President of the United States. Heck - it even had its own movie. But what about those distinctive helicopters with the white tops, who go by the call sign Marine One?
Inside Marine One is their story. Colonel Ray "Frenchy" L'Heureux (with Lee Kelley) has just published Inside Marine One, a memoir which recounts what it's like to fly the USMC helicopters tasked with transporting the President and other VIPs, and what it's like to command the USMC Squadron HMX-1 that supports them. Subtitled "Four U.S. Presidents, One Proud Marine and the World's Most Amazing Helicopter", it's an insider's account of what it takes to meet the unique challenges of the job.
More below the Orange Omnilepticon.
First off, a few caveats. I have an advance copy of the book - it doesn't come out until May 27, 2014 - and it doesn't have any photographs. Those will definitely add to the reading experience, since much of what this book is about is Col. L'Heureux's more memorable flights on special occasions, and the behind the scenes story.
The cover blurb is a bit misleading: "Four U.S. Presidents, One Proud Marine and the World's Most Amazing Helicopter" is actually pretty weak on the helicopter part of the story. It's understandable though - HMX-1 flies a number of helicopters, including different types depending on the mission, and there is no one particular "Marine One". That's just the radio call sign used by whichever aircraft happens to be flying the president that day. Also, the details of what makes those helicopters special are understandably classified. There's a little discussion about what they're like to fly, but not a lot of drama because (after all) drama in the form of unanticipated events and close calls are the last thing anyone is going to allow in the kind of missions Marine One flies.
The book is written with help from Lee Kelley, who has authored several books of his own. Presumably he was brought in to assist L'Heureux with crafting his book into a readable form. It's not really a biography, nor an exhaustive history of HMX-1. Instead the book is more of a memoir, a collection of memorable events in the Colonel's career with enough details to flesh out the larger story. Further, this is not a tell-all book; L'Heureux's very aware that the job calls for tact and discretion, and being as apolitical as possible. There are no stories about who left the helicopter in a mess or made the most unreasonable demands. The word that comes to mind is "professional".
So, how did Colonel Ray "Frenchy" L'Heureux end up in one of the most exclusive jobs in the world? The story begins during his formative years and with several fateful decisions. As a child he developed a strong interest in aviation, further fueled when his mother won a free flying lesson and gave it to him. He went on to Nathaniel Hawthorne College intending to get a degree in an aviation related field and all of the pilot training he hoped would get him an airline job, but quickly ran into reality. Flying is expensive, and the money wasn't there. A conversation led him onto another path.
One day, he stopped to talk the campus Marine recruiter on his way to the cafeteria, and the rest follows from that decision. He ended up joining the Marines as an infantryman, with the idea of eventually going on to become an officer and enter the Marine Corps aviation program. Surviving Boot Camp as a recruit, he became a Marine and served in the reserves while he continued his studies and graduated in 1983 - with a wife and a family on the way. From there he went on to Officer Candidate School at Quantico and eventually into the Marine Corps aviation program at Pensacola.
As L'Heureux describes it, the career path he followed was extremely demanding, with both physical and mental challenges. He developed a taste for keeping in shape which would serve him well later, and he met some pretty tough academic requirements that eliminated a number of his classmates along the way to his eventual graduation into a career track in helicopters. For some reason, it appealed to him more than a slot as a fighter pilot.
Basic training was in a Bell Jet Ranger. L'Heureux had spent plenty of time in airplanes up to this point, but flying a helicopter calls for some very different skills, one of the most critical being learning how to hover. A helicopter pilot is a busy person: the 'stick' controls the angle and pitch of the main rotors to send the helicopter forward, sideways, back, etc.; the collective controls the pitch of the rotors - basically up/down, and the rudder pedals control the tail rotor which spins the helicopter left or right. To hover in one place over one spot, the pilot has to learn how to balance all of these controls simultaneously - and that's not including compensating for what the wind might be doing.
To make a long story short, L'Heureux learned how to do all of this well enough to go on to what would be a 30 year career in the Marines in aviation. In 1988 a key event occurred: he was on hand when President Ronald Reagan landed at the base where he was serving at the time, and he got his first look at Marine One. He began researching HMX-1 and what it took to become a pilot in the squadron.
Eisenhower was the first president to fly in a Marine helicopter, in 1957, and helicopters soon became a favored element in White House travel planning. (Although the Marine Corps didn't have a lock on the job at first. See photos below)
Army VH-34 Presidential Helicopter, at the Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
The rather spartan accommodations for President Eisenhower and family. It was reportedly a big improvement when a way was found to provide air conditioning.
Reading between the lines in the book, it's not hard to see why helicopters became a trapping of the Presidency. Helicopters offer a lot of flexibility; setting up a motorcade involves getting a whole flotilla of vehicles into place and securing a route. The security situation is easier to handle. (Marine One is usually in the air with identical helicopters from HMX-1, and aside from the radio call sign, there's no way to tell which one is carrying the President.) The speed of a helicopter beats ground travel, and it allows the President to get in and out of stops quickly.
This Sikorsky H-5 is a "Pre-Presidential" helicopter - LBJ used it in Texas during his campaign for the Senate. Considering how big Texas is, it makes a lot of sense.
L'Heureux decided to try for HMX-1. He'd accomplished a career sufficiently commendable and with enough recommendations from the right people to eventually make the cut and become one of only 4 pilots at any given time to be officially qualified to fly the President. He managed a further notable accomplishment by completing his tour in HMX-1, going on to other assignments for several years, and then returning to HMX-1 as its commander. This combination of circumstances meant he got to fly both Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton during his first tour, and Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during his second.
While L'Heureux is careful to pass no political judgements on any of the Presidents he has flown, it's obvious that he bonded with George W. Bush. One of the consequences of the job is that the pilots and crew of HMX-1 spend a lot of time wherever the President is when he's traveling by helicopter. L'Heureux's taste for triathlons and running caught Bush's attention during a stay at Camp David, and he was invited to join his group for some mountain biking around the grounds. He had no idea what he was in for - his bicycle was a piece of junk, he didn't have the right gear, and no idea how strenuous it was going to be. Through sheer guts he made it all the way through the ride and got the respect of the President, who included him on a regular basis afterwards on rides there and at his Texas ranch.
Bush later reciprocated by being the first President ever to come to HMX-1 to personally tour the squadron and thank everyone for the job they do every day to keep Marine One flying. It's part of the peculiar nature of the job. Pilots and crew are supposed to be effectively invisible, recognized for the job they do but not interacting with the President on a personal basis - unless the President so chooses. They are routinely in and out of the White House, working with the Secret Service, and in the eye of the press when flying the President.
L'Heureux mentions the saluting controversy; when the President boards Marine One, the Crew Chief standing at the door salutes and is supposed to be saluted in return; Clinton, not having been in the military, missed this his first trip and a controversy occurred. L'Heureux made sure to know President Obama was briefed on this point before his first flight. Obama saluted - and then reached out to shake the Crew Chief's hand and speak to him briefly. The man was flabbergasted - he'd never expected to have to break from standing at attention, let alone respond to the President! L'Heureux had to reassure him he'd done the right thing. New boss, new ways.
Getting into HMX-1 in any capacity is a real measure of accomplishment. L'Heureux devotes one chapter to the squadron and its special nature. The squadron is large and is always carried at full strength - no empty slots - and they actively seek out the best candidates to keep it full up. Members, from the lowliest private on up, must have exemplary records and pass a stringent security check. The squadron has a large detachment just to maintain security.
The aircraft get an unbelievable level of care. They're inspected after every flight and maintained by a schedule that cuts the usual service intervals for components in half. They've never had an incident in 50 years of operations. The distinctive white paint on top was adopted from Sikorsky's scheme for executive helicopters which supposedly made them easier to keep cool. In any case it adds to the task of keeping the machines looking immaculate.
When the President travels and helicopters are involved, the logistics are daunting; a whole "lift package" is put together to make sure everything will be in place and ready to go. For some flights within CONUS, the lift package may fly across country several days in advance - partly to maintain pilot proficiency. For overseas trips (and some domestic ones), the lift package with support gear will be broken down and flown over in U.S. Air Force transports, like the C-130 Hercules, the C-17 Globemaster III or the C-5 Galaxy depending on the trip.
Several different helicopters are used, depending on circumstances. One is a variant of the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion; it's about the size of a school bus. A close relative, the VH-3D variant of the Sea King is also in the lineup. Another is the VH-60, recognizably based on the Blackhawk.
It is in the nature of things that HMX-1 has to be prepared at a moment's notice to put a lift package together, as when a natural disaster hits and the President needs to be on the scene. Other times, it can be as demanding as flying the Pope in to a giant outdoor mass during a Papal visit, as L'Heureux did for Pope John Paul II in 1993. It has moments of special significance as well. When Presidents travel to Normandy Beach, Marine One can land in Colleville at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial because it is forever American soil; the other heads of state have to land elsewhere and take a motorcade.
Inside Marine One offers a glimpse into a very special niche in the world of aviation and history. The release date is May 27, 2014; you just might want to keep it in mind if you're looking for an interesting read.