Dallas (WBAP/KLIF News) – Whenever the president or Vice President go anywhere, they take the mother of all entourages with them. That was doubly the case Tuesday at Dallas Love Field, when both men, and both entourages were at the same place, at the same time.
Secret Service agents, along with Arlington, Irving and Grand Prairie Police kept the motorcade moving and ushered the POTUS, VPOTUS and FLOTUS (First Lady Michelle Obama) off their respective aircraft and into their armored limos – the president’s limo is known to many as The Beast – and off to the Dallas Police memorial service.
While they were gone, Air Force personnel refueled and tended to the hulking 747 that is Air Force One, and the smaller 757 that is Air Force Two. Marine pilots and crew chiefs waited in a nearby hangar with the presidential Blackhawk helicopter, designated Marine Corps One when the POTUS is on board.
It’s worth mentioning that any aircraft – even a single engine Cessna – is designated Air Force One whenever the President is on board. The call sign goes with the President, not the aircraft.
It was a well-choreographed operation in reverse at the end of the day, as the motorcade returned to the tarmac at Love Field, and within just over ten minutes of President Obama and the First Lady boarding Air Force One, it was lifting off, with Air Force Two right on its heels.
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