“Green Tops” MV-22 osprey tilt-rotor aircraft fly the President’s supporting staff and Secret Service agents.

On May 23, Donald Trump traveled to New York City in one of the Presidential VH-3D helicopters operated by the U.S. Marine Corps HMX-1 (Marine Helicopter Squadron One).

Here’s a video of the Marine One helicopter flying over NYC the POTUS shared on his favorite social media:

Great to be in New York for the day. Heading back to the @WhiteHouse now, lots of work to be done! pic.twitter.com/w3LUiQ8SWh

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23 2018

The clip was probably filmed by one of the escorting U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. In fact, “Marine One” (when President of the U.S. travels aboard the VH-3D or any other chopper operated by HMX-1, the helicopter uses the radio callsign “Marine One” by which the aircraft is known) was escorted by green-painted MV-22 Ospreys (also referred to as “Green Tops”) that fly the White House Staff during the President’s travels.

The tilt-rotor aircraft fly also the Secret Service agents that follow “Marine One” and take care of its valuable passengers in case the helicopter goes down due to a failure.

Usually, at least two or three Ospreys accompany “Marine One”. For instance, when last year Trump traveled to Virginia’s Newport News Shipbuilding facility to visit pre-commissioning unit USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN78), the two VH-3Ds were escorted by three MV-22s.

Both the “White Tops” (VH-3Ds and VH-60Ns), that usually fly the POTUS and accompanying VIPs at home and abroad as part of the Executive Flight Detachment, and the “Green Tops” (12x MV-22 Ospreys) that fly the supporting staff, are based at Quantico, Virginia, south of Washington DC.

The helicopters of Executive Flight Detachment actually operate extensively out of an alert facility at Naval Support Facility Anacostia, in Washington DC, much closer to the White House than Quantico.

A stunning WH photo (the top one in this article), taken by photographer @AndreaHanks, showing two VH-3Ds and two escorting MV-22s (a third Osprey was probably the camera ship), was shared on Twitter by CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller.

Top image: WH photo by Andrea Hanks

Watch Marine One And three HMX-1 Ospreys Land On Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford.

On Mar. 2, U.S. President Donald Trump traveled to Virginia’s Newport News Shipbuilding facility to visit pre-commissioning unit USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN78) the U.S. Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier.

The following video shows the Presidential VH-3D “Marine One” operated by the U.S. Marine Corps HMX-1 (Marine Helicopter Squadron One) along with the green-painted MV-22 Ospreys (also referred to as “Green Tops”) that fly the White House Staff during the President’s travels, land on USS Ford and take off after the speech during which Trump vowed to launch a “great rebuilding” of American military power.

Interestingly, the Bell-Boeing tilt-rotor aircraft fly also the Secret Service agents that follow “Marine One” (when President of the U.S. travels aboard the VH-3D or any other chopper operated by HMX-1 the helicopter uses the radio callsign “Marine One” by which the aircraft is known) and take care of him or her in case the helicopter goes down due to a failure.

Both the “White Tops” (12x VH-3Ds and 8x VH-60Ns), that usually fly the POTUS and accompanying VIPs at home and abroad as part of the Executive Flight Detachment, and the “Green Tops” (12x MV-22 Ospreys) that fly the supporting staff, are based at Quantico, Virginia, south of Washington DC.

The Executive Flight Detachment actually operates extensively out of an alert facility at Naval Support Facility Anacostia in Washington DC, much closer to the White House than Quantico.

H/T to @juanmab for the heads-up

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When President of the U.S. travels aboard the VH-3D (or any other chopper operated by the USMC HMX-1 – Marine Helicopter Squadron One), the helicopter uses the radio callsign “Marine One” by which the aircraft is known.

Here’s a rare behind the scenes video showing POTUS chopper, the only one belonging to a head of a state to be carried aboard to follow the president in its visits.

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Just released by the White House, this photograph, taken on May 1, at Bagram airfield, shows Barack Obama talking with Ambassador Ryan Crocker aboard Marine One moments before the helicopter took off to bring the President, just arrived from Andrews AFB on board the Air Force One, to the Afghan Presidential Palace in Kabul.

Seated next to the President, from left, are Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough and Chief of Staff Jack Lew.

Noteworthy neither Obama nor Crocker wear a flak jacket.

“Marine One” is the designation and radio callsign used by any helicopter with the POTUS on board. However, it is quite unlikely that the helicopter used this easily recognizable radio callsign for the dangerous trip in Afghanistan.

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

The top AP picture took me by surprise. Taken on Apr. 27 at Andrews AFB, shows Barack Obama through the window of the Presidential chopper.

I’ve always thought most VIP vehicles, cars and helicopters had tinted windows. First of all because they are cool. Second, for quite obvious security reasons: even if those are bulletproff windows, you might not want a sniper know where the very important person is sitting.  However, he might still guess his position, since interiors are very well known.

For instance, even if Obama can move inside the cabin of the VH-3D operated by the USMC HMX-1 (Marine Helicopter Squadron One), we can assume he will sit with his seat belt fastened at take off and landing either on the right or left Presidential seats that you can clearly identify by looking at the pictures published on the White House Flickr gallery.

Anyway, whether it is safe or not (most probably it is, otherwise it would not be that way), as a matter of fact, the Marine One (from the callsign the helicopter uses when the President of the U.S. is on board), has no tinted windows.

Image credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

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