All language subtitles for Americas.Book.Of.Secrets.S01E06_English

[narrator]
They are the most advanced

and heavily protected vehicles
ever built,

operated by technicians
prepared for the worst.

You're taught how to crash
through a blocking vehicle,

what happens if the vehicle
in front of you is hit with an RPG.

[narrator] But behind the bulletproof
glass and armor plating are secrets...

secrets so frightening...

The voice over the radio told us,
"Air Force One, you have a bomb on board.

It will explode in five minutes."

[narrator]
...so incredible...

After the initial impact,
I peered through my windshield

and looked over at the president...

[narrator]
...so shocking...

A .50-caliber sniper rifle will knock down
a commercial aircraft.

[narrator] ...that they must be
kept hidden from the public.

[Walsh] There is an electromagnetic
skin on the plane

designed to ward off impulses
in case of a nuclear attack.

[narrator] There are those who believe
in the existence of a book.

A book that contains
the most highly guarded secrets

of the United States of America.

A book
whose very existence

is known to only a select few.

But if such a book exists,
what would it contain?

Secret histories?

Secret plans?

Secret lies?

Does there really exist
America's Book of Secrets?

It is the most technologically
sophisticated aircraft ever built.

A flying command and control center

designed exclusively
for the world's most powerful leader.

Its code name is Air Force One.

It is the seat of military command.

It is the most flexible airplane
in the world.

The most flexible monument
that the U.S. has for the president.

It's the only way to fly.
It is a magnificent aircraft.

[Cayon] He can live on it,
he can command battles from it,

and he can be the statesman
for the United States from it.

[narrator] Today's Air Force One aircraft
is a militarized version of a Boeing 747,

standing nearly six stories high

and stretching out longer
than the White House.

The floor plan is classified,

but reports indicate there is roughly
4,000 square feet of space

spread across three levels

with enough seating for 70 passengers
and 26 crew members.

Modifications include a private office
for the president,

a large conference room,

and an extensive
communications center.

The president is at the head
of a very large, sprawling

complex military organization,

and things happen all over the world.

So he has to be in constant contact
with national security advisors,

the vice president, the joint chiefs,
members of Congress.

All this requires very robust
and encrypted communications.

Two-eight-hotel-fox,
radio check, I copy.

[narrator] The United States Air Force
is responsible for Air Force One

and treats every presidential flight
as an official military mission.

Prior to takeoff, ground crews inspect
the runway for any debris

that could damage the plane.

Security teams scan the skies
and surrounding landscape

for potential threats.

And flight crews inspect every item
before it's loaded onto the plane,

making sure the president remains
safe and healthy while on board.

All the food served on Air Force One

is purchased by the Air Force One
flight attendants.

And what the flight attendants would do,

would make random shopping trips

to any of the Washington D.C.
grocery stores

so there was no way
for someone to--

to infiltrate what was being served
on the airplane.

Almost never do we buy anything
at foreign markets just for protection,

just to make sure the president
doesn't get any kind of food

that we have no knowledge
of its background.

[narrator] If the worst happens
and the president or anyone

needs medical attention,

there's an onboard health facility
staffed by a full-time doctor.

In the medical compartment,
there are two fold- out racks

that you can put a patient monitor.

There is a fold-out operating room table
with an operating room light.

There's oxygen.

There's equipment that you can
use to defibrillate, put a chest tube.

I've sutured a Secret Service agent
on Air Force One.

[narrator] But if there is a secret
unknown to most of the public,

perhaps it is the existence of a second,
identical Air Force One

that is used every time
the president flies.

We have swapped them
in the middle of trips,

and the people on board
don't know the difference.

We actually will place
their personal belongings at their seats

in the exact same place
when we have to switch

and no one ever knows
that we swapped.

The only way you can actually tell

is the tail number
in the back of the airplane.

People might wonder,
well, doesn't that cost a lot of money

to have these two planes flying around?

And it does, but the feeling is that they
never want the president to be stranded.

[narrator] While many believe
Air Force One

is the name of the presidential plane,

it is, in fact, a code name
started in 1953

when President Dwight D. Eisenhower's
aircraft

nearly crashed
into a commercial airliner.

He was on a trip to Florida

and the Air Force
never wanted that to happen again,

so they decided they had to have a special
designation for the president's plane

and they came up with Air Force One,
and so whenever the president is flying,

no other aircraft has anything close
to that designation,

so it's not confused.

So Air Force One is not the name
of a particular plane.

It's the name of the plane
the president happens to be on.

[narrator] In order to minimize
the risk of a collision,

airport flight controllers
must clear the surrounding airspace

for all Air Force One arrivals
and departures.

They pretty much freeze an airport
for 15 minutes

before and after Air Force One
takes off or lands.

It does delay other air traffic,
it does cause disruptions at airports,

but the presidents love it
because they never have to wait.

They get on the plane
and they just take off.

[narrator] Security at nonmilitary
airports is heightened

to ensure that the aircraft
is not tampered with.

Access to the plane
is strictly controlled

to prevent any explosives
from being smuggled on board.

As an added precaution,

only the left side of the aircraft
faces public areas and buildings,

protecting the president's quarters
on the right side of the craft

from unwanted exposure.

But despite the elaborate preparations
and security measures,

Air Force One has been threatened.

In 1999,
while transporting President Bill Clinton

from Athens, Greece to the U.S.,

an unidentified voice
came over Air Force One's radio,

delivering a shocking message.

[Cayon]
The voice over the radio said,

"Air Force One,
you have a bomb on board.

It will explode in five minutes."

The conventional wisdom said

that the only way they could
get a bomb on Air Force One

was through the carry-on luggage.

[narrator] Immediately, Secret Service
began to move all passengers

to the front of the plane
and their luggage to the back.

During the time
that we were doing that,

the voice over the radio
was counting down the minutes,

giving us the four, three,
two, one countdown,

and at the end he laughed
and said, "I hope you all die."

Obviously, nothing happened,

and I've never gotten any update
on whether or not

the person on the radio
was ever revealed or found.

[narrator] While the details
of the frightening threat

remain a secret,

it is clear that Air Force One

is a tempting target
for a terrorist attack.

But could the simple act of distraction

have once protected the president
from a possible threat?

There was a famous case
within the Secret Service,

when President Clinton went to Islamabad.

That was probably the most dangerous
trip that a president has taken.

The itinerary became public.

And the concern was that people
with shoulder-fired Stinger missiles

would be fired at the president
when he took off.

That was a case
where they did have a decoy.

What he actually did
was walk around

the C-17 in front of the press,

but when he got behind the C-17,

there was no direct angles for the press
to see what airplane he got on.

[narrator] Flights into active war zones
present their own unique problems.

During President George W. Bush's 2003
Thanksgiving flight into Baghdad,

Senior Pilot Colonel Mark Tillman
executed an evasive flying maneuver

known as a steep spiral descent.

When you take the president
into a war zone,

it requires incredible precision.

And there was a good deal of debate

as to what aircraft we should take.

Air Force One
is so universally recognized

that we thought
that might be a problem.

There was a question
of whether we should take

an unmarked military transport plane.

In the end, we decided
that it was most advantageous

to have the capabilities of Air Force One,

so we decided
to use that platform to go.

But it remained very secret.

I believe there were probably
five people on the ground in Iraq

that knew
we were coming before we landed.

[narrator] Missions in and out
of dangerous areas can be planned for,

but what happens if an attack comes

while the presidential aircraft
is in flight?

What defensive and offensive capabilities

are available on board Air Force One?

[narrator] Air Force One
is designed to protect the president

and remain airborne
during the most extreme emergencies,

but what secret procedures
and protocols are in place

if something goes wrong?

The threats that now exist
are much more dramatic

than they have been in the past.

[narrator] While details are classified,
Air Force One is armed

with a series of safety features
and military technology

designed to ward off
any potential attacks,

including in-flight refueling capability,

infrared missile
and radar jamming technology

and top-secret anti-nuclear defenses.

Break, royal crown, this is Air Force One,
patch complete.

Request to terminate
with your system, bravo.

There are security provisions
on Air Force One

that the Air Force doesn't like
to talk about.

The countermeasures
are really behind the engines

so that they're designed
to throw chafe into the air,

and heat-seeking missiles
would be diverted from the plane.

There is an electromagnetic skin
on the plane

designed to ward off impulses
in case of a nuclear attack.

[Ralph Basham]
If Air Force One is threatened,

or the president's safety
and security is threatened,

the captain of Air Force One

is ultimately responsible
for that aircraft,

and he makes decisions on what
that aircraft should or should not do,

and he knows better than anyone else
on that aircraft

what its capabilities are.

[sirens wailing]

[narrator] September 11, 2001,

Air Force One was both a safe house
and a moving target

while transporting President George Bush
out of Florida

after the attacks in New York
and Washington, D.C.

We took off,
probably the quickest takeoff

I'd ever experienced
on Air Force One.

There was a Continental Airlines
plane in our vicinity

that was not responding.

So, we had to turn
in the opposite direction.

[Allan Lichtman]
The pilot, Officer Tillman,

he got a transmission
that there was an unidentified aircraft

that might be following Air Force One,

and that Angel, as they called it,

might well be the next target
of the terrorists.

People might not realize that that day

someone called the White House
and said, "Angel is next",

Angel being the code word
for Air Force One.

There are all kinds
of contingency plans

built into the operation
of Air Force One,

including for nuclear war,
but not for that kind of chaos.

This is Air Force One,
request to terminate.

[Lichtman] The pilot took evasive
action and he called for jet fighters.

Because nobody knew

what was going to happen
and what the next target might be.

[narrator] The threat
turned out to be a false alarm,

but it revealed secret weaknesses
to Air Force One's capabilities.

Apparently, Air Force One
has defensive measures,

but it doesn't have
an offensive capability.

It doesn't shoot down other planes,

which is why
they need fighter escorts.

[Walsh] People wonder,
"Well, how often is Air Force One

accompanied by fighter jets, escorts?"

Very rarely, almost never,

because it interferes
with not only commercial traffic,

but it causes safety problems

because they have to clear a swath
in the sky for Air Force One,

and then they have to clear the swath
for the fighter planes

and their approaches.

The Air Force has decided
that they could scramble jets

at the last minute
to be with Air Force One.

So whenever Air Force One
is traveling,

the Air Force knows exactly where
it's going and so pilots are on alert.

[narrator] In the wake
of the 2001 terrorist attacks,

emergency protocols were engaged,

allowing Air Force One
to safely deliver President Bush

to a secret location in Nebraska.

Why Nebraska?

Because that's where the Strategic
Air Command is headquartered.

We went to Offutt Air Force Base,
just outside of Omaha, Nebraska.

We pulled up to this large building,
three, four-story building, as I recall.

But instead of going into the building,

across the street from the building
was a concrete bunker.

And that's actually where we went in.

And at that point,
I will have to leave it at that.

[narrator]
After the events of September 11,

President Bush ordered
critical improvements to Air Force One

to upgrade the military aircraft's
communication capabilities.

Within a week of that day,

President Bush ordered the Air Force
to put live television on board

and to figure out a way to get
Internet capability for the airplane,

to do live meetings with his staff
on the ground via the Internet.

Test one, two, three, three, two, one.
How copy now?

[Cayon]
And that is the precursor

to all the Internet
that you have on airlines today.

[narrator] But while Air Force One
is the premier aircraft

for presidential transport,

if there's a national emergency
and the commander in chief

comes under attack
in the White House,

it is Marine One,
the presidential helicopter,

that is the first vehicle
called to action.

The Sea King is thought to be equipped
with ballistic armor

and anti-missile defenses.

[Fred Geier]
Does the Marine One aircraft

have the ability
to attack or defend itself?

Well, simply said,
some secrets must remain secret.

[narrator] Those responsible
for moving the president

are drilled in emergency evacuation
protocols.

I can tell you with firsthand experience,

because I stood in for the president
on one of those drills.

And it was a highlight of my career
down there.

The idea, if nuclear weapons
are en route Washington D.C.,

let's get the president out of town
as fast as possible.

Get him into an area where he's safe,

and continue to run the government.

And there's a program called continuity
of government, COG,

and it's designed to do just that.

So during a continuity
of government exercise one time,

I played the president.

I got into the presidential helicopter
and flew to

a secret location in the mountains
near Camp David.

[narrator] Allowing the president
to make a quick getaway

is why a helicopter
was added to the fleet.

When the commander in chief is on board,

the chopper flies
under the call sign Marine One.

Marine One
came into being around 1957,

and the reason was,
what if you were the president

and you wanted to get somewhere
fairly quickly,

more quickly than in a car,

but you really couldn't fire up
a big presidential plane?

The ideal answer was the helicopter.

And Marine One never flies alone.

There are always other decoy helicopters
flying with it.

Deception is part of the art
of protecting presidents.

[narrator] Unlike the cramped helicopters
used by his predecessors,

President Obama's Sea King

has nearly 200 square feet
of interior space.

The plush cabin has room
for 14 passengers,

and features a small office space
and a bathroom.

Marine One also has room
for the communications equipment

required to keep the president in contact
with the Pentagon and White House

at all times.

[Geier] The communications
are all similar,

and we can interact with all
of the White House communications.

Although the cabin is very comfortable
and spacious,

there are limited facilities on board.

So it's all mission dependent.

And they may take additional
medical equipment

on certain flights in certain areas.

[narrator]
If an emergency situation does arise,

Marine One has several high-tech
security features,

including a reinforced
aluminum alloy fuselage

capable of withstanding high-speed
crash impacts;

the ability to continue flying,
even if one of its three engines fails;

and the latest military-grade
laser detector

and radar warning systems.

Military protocol
for a presidential helicopter flight

includes a marine assigned to meet
the president wherever he lands.

On a trip to a remote area
in the Grand Canyon,

President Bill Clinton was greeted
at dawn by a solitary marine

standing at attention,

ready to serve his commander in chief.

Clinton was genuinely surprised,
in such a remote area,

to see a marine standing there.

He didn't know why.
[laughs]

When the president comes out,
he will give him the appropriate greeting,

and then he remains with that aircraft,
providing the security for that aircraft.

[narrator] Marine One's
importance to the presidency

is reflected in the fact
that the helicopter

is transported overseas

on every trip made by the president.

Overseas operations
are much more difficult

because the aircraft have to be flown
to an Air Force base,

disassembled, flown to the location
overseas, assembled,

and then prepared
for the presidential mission.

[narrator] But Marine One isn't the only
vehicle traveling with the president.

He also flies
with a heavily armored limousine

called The Beast.

[sirens wailing]

[narrator]
When the President of the United States

is driven through the streets
of Washington, D.C.

or other cities around the world,

he rides inside
a specially modified vehicle

known simply as Cadillac One,
Limo One, or...

The Beast.

The Beast is kept in the basement

of Secret Service headquarters
on H Street.

It's polished
and watched at all times.

To get into Secret Service
headquarters parking,

you have to have
all kinds of clearances.

It's very well protected.

[narrator] One of at least two,

the identical vehicles
are built by General Motors.

The custom-designed superstructure
consists of five-inch-thick armor plating

made from a combination of aluminum,
titanium, ceramic and steel.

The windows can withstand
armor-piercing .44-caliber bullets.

Even the fuel tank
is protected by a special foam

designed to prevent an explosion
if it suffers a direct hit.

[Joseph Funk] The new vehicle
that President Obama is driving

is at the top of the evolutionary chart
of protective vehicles.

Even a lot of people
within the Secret Service

don't know what capabilities
these vehicles have.

Part of our ability to counteract people
that would do us harm

is they don't know exactly
what capabilities we do have.

And we like to keep it that way
to keep the bad guys second-guessing.

For example, the weight of the vehicle
is a very classified number,

because if people know
how much a vehicle weighs,

they'll be able to know
how much armor is in vehicles.

That's why certain aspects
of the vehicle

are very,
very tightly controlled secrets.

They're classified information.

The glass in the presidential limo

is about five inches thick.

It's glass sandwiched
with a very dense plastic material.

And the purpose of that is to slow down
the bullet as it goes through.

The bullet is actually
the least dangerous element

when you have normal glass,
because the spall that comes off,

thousands and thousands
of small pieces of glass

flying through the air
at a very high velocity,

do a lot of damage.

If you were to have the polycarbonate,
it stops the bullet,

but it also, as you can see,
stopped all of the spall.

So it protects the people inside
not only from the bullet,

but actually the more deadly threat,
the glass spall.

There's a nylon
or Kevlar doughnut inside the tires,

which allows the vehicle
to continue to run,

should somebody decide to shoot
the tire out or if you have a blowout.

You can continue driving along
without having to pull over

and change a tire.

When a president travels
and lands somewhere or takes off,

the motorcade,
and those armor-plated limousines,

become part of a barrier.

They always put the limousines
and the rest of the motorcade

between the plane and a crowd.

Also, when a president
goes through a crowd

and shakes hands on a tarmac,

both limousines are just outside
the television frame.

So you don't see them,
but they're right there,

in case there's a problem.

[narrator] But who is authorized
to drive Limo One?

And what kind of secret skills
must they learn

if they are to transport the president?

[Basham] People are assigned
to the transportation section

of the Secret Service,

and they are then selected,
they are trained,

and they train constantly.

[Funk] The training that you go through
encompasses everything,

from the ability of these vehicles
to handle themselves in inclement weather.

You're taught to avoid blocking vehicles.

What happens
if the vehicle in front of you

is hit with a RPG
or something like that?

[narrator] Maneuvering the armor-plated
Beast is hard enough,

but in an emergency,

the limited view
out of the driver's window

makes it doubly difficult.

You're looking through ballistic glass,

which distorts your vision.

The structures that hold
in windows are much different

than in an everyday car.

You have numerous blind spots.

It's not a vehicle
that is fun or comfortable to drive.

The technologies are there these days
to make very strong, hardened vehicles.

The problem is, the technologies
that someone can hold in their hands

will still destroy them.

The protection is having,
and as you've seen

in a lot of the convoys,
a number of cars,

and really not knowing which one
the person's in.

If you could be protected in a car,

you'd only have one
rolling down the street,

but that's just not the case.

And a lot of times,

they probably wouldn't
be in the convoy you're looking at,

because that would be
the greatest decoy of all.

[narrator] Safety and security
are priority number one

when moving the president.

Advance planning
and strategic preparation

are the secrets
to an uneventful drive.

I think if America had a book of secrets,

the one thing that the public
would be surprised to see is

the extent of preparation and security
that goes into a presidential visit.

They see certain aspects of it on TV.

That planning for that visit
took five days of ten to 12, 14-hour days.

You don't want to get committed
necessarily to just one route,

but everything on that route
then is surveyed.

And whether it's manhole covers,
or whether it's buildings,

all of those are looked at
and taken into consideration

of what may
or may not pose a threat.

[narrator] But even detailed planning
cannot always guarantee

the president's safety.

In 1975,
President Gerald Ford's motorcade

was speeding through
Hartford, Connecticut

while local motorcycle cops
protected his route

by leapfrogging from intersection
to intersection.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old James Salamites
was driving home with his brother

and a few friends
from a local restaurant.

When I left the restaurant,
I proceeded down Market Street,

noticed that there was a green light,
and all of a sudden,

the black limousine
came out of the alleyway,

and I swerved quickly
to move out of the way...

[tires screeching]

...but I hit the front fender.

[narrator] The teenage driver had hit
the President of the United States.

President Ford leaned over in his seat
and looked directly at me,

him having quite an astonished look
on his face.

And as soon as I saw him,
my eyes lit up,

and I just put my head down,
because I says,

"I can't believe who I just had
a car accident with."

[narrator] But the specially-reinforced
presidential limo remained operational,

and quickly sped away from the scene.

[Funk]
It was an accident, a tragic event

which could have been worse,

but it allowed the Secret Service
to explore

and to look at the best way to support
the president in his motorcade,

and we refined how we do things.

What you'll see now is stationary
police officers at every intersection,

not allowing that potential hazard
to happen.

[narrator] But what if the president's
limo is stopped,

not by a teenaged driver,

but by heavily-armed kidnappers,
enemy aircraft or covert terrorists?

What secret weapons
and counter-assault technologies

might be on board the Beast?

[narrator]
May 24th 2011.

London, England.

Three weeks after the death
of Osama bin Laden,

President Obama conducted a state visit
to Britain under heavy security,

moving about the city in a motorcade

consisting of nearly
20 heavily-armed vehicles.

But what secret protocols
were in place to enhance his safety?

And why do some of the vehicles
in the motorcade,

known as the "secure package,"
split off from the group?

The Secret Service's ability
to protect the president

is based on getting out of harm's way
as fast as possible.

We don't want to stay and fight.

We want to get him out of there.

The staying and fighting
is left to other elements

of the Secret Service
and to the local police.

[narrator] But if the president
cannot escape the scene,

the Beast comes equipped
with several top-secret modifications

designed to repel an attack.

The capabilities of these vehicles
in detecting attacks

is what keeps the Secret Service
on the cutting edge.

It's our ability to prevent an attack

by recognizing what is potentially
coming our way,

that these vehicles are in a cutting edge
of technology.

The best asset that these vehicles have
is the ability to detect

certain potential attacks on a president

of a chemical or a biological,
radiation nature.

[Neil] The Beast
is an independent environment,

a survival pod
in case the worst should happen.

And so, if for example,
there is an attack that involves nerve gas

or some other kind
of environmental agent,

the car can be completely sealed.

And it has its own oxygen supply
for the protection of the occupants.

It can only last for so long,

and the main thing
is to get the heck out of Dodge.

[narrator] Other vehicles
in a presidential motorcade

are also believed to carry
counter-assault devices

commonly found on military vehicles.

In the president's motorcade,

there is also a car
that follows the presidential limo

who are the equivalent of SWAT teams,

equipped with all kinds of devastating
and advanced weaponry.

There are a lot of tactical devices.

This is a very interesting one

that was actually designed
for the prison industries.

This is a gas canister.

It could neutralize the entire area
around that presidential limousine

so that everybody outside of it,

it would take about a day for them
to remember their names,

let alone do any harm.

There's also something called a chaff.

A highly-metallic ballistic device.

Blows up in the air and it will
confuse air-to-ground missiles.

[narrator] Protecting the president
while on the road

presents many difficulties
for the Secret Service.

However, on January 17, 2009,

an even more frightening scenario
occurred

when President-Elect Barrack Obama
embarked on a 137-mile train trip

from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.

This old-fashioned whistle-stop tour
evoked memories of past presidents,

such as Franklin Roosevelt
and Harry Truman,

who made similar trips campaigning
across the country.

But this nostalgic form of travel
left the president-to-be

open to a variety of security risks.

This was probably one of the biggest
security nightmares

for the Secret Service
in the modern history of the presidency.

Pray for us.

God bless you and god bless
the United States of America.

[Lichtman] He's riding a train,
he's not in the special presidential limo

or in Marine One.

He's stopping at a lot of small places.

He's exposing himself.

In a perfect world for the Secret Service,

the president's schedule
would never be announced in advance.

We know it takes quite
a bit of time for our enemies

to plan and to plot,

and so the less advance notice
they have, the better.

[narrator] Today, it is virtually
impossible to move the president

without the press, the public,

and potential enemies knowing about it.

But there was once a time

when a president could slip out
of the White House

and get a little privacy

on a luxury yacht
called the U.S.S. Sequoia.

A 104-foot, wood-hull ship,
known as Navy One.

It served a unique purpose
in World War II.

The Sequoia
provided Franklin D. Roosevelt

and Harry Truman
a secure location

to plan their war strategy.

Roosevelt worked on D-Day on the Sequoia

with military leaders
from the United States and from Europe.

And following on that,

Truman reportedly decided to drop
the atomic bomb from the Sequoia.

[narrator] The U.S.S. Sequoia
was retired from service in 1977.

Thirty-three years after the sale
of the original Navy One yacht,

a new terrestrial transport
has been added to the presidential fleet.

One that meets the needs of today.

A high-tech, heavily-armed bus
called Ground Force One.

[narrator] In July 2010,

the Secret Service
rolled out two new editions

to the fleet of presidential vehicles...

mega buses
known as Ground Force One.

Each sleek black coach
is a converted 45-foot-long vehicle

designed by the Secret Service

and built in Tennessee
by Hemphill Brothers

at a cost of $1.1 million each.

The Secret Service
ordered the busses to save money.

Previously, the agency would
have to rent and retrofit a bus

each time one was needed
for the president.

There's a whole series of agencies

that are coordinated
in building out that vehicle

and designing the vehicle,
putting in different features.

Run-flat tires,
protective coatings and armoring

and protective systems that would go into
any protective platform for the president,

a really extensive
communications package.

And then essentially all the features
that you would want to see

for a senior executive.

Office equipment,
a suite of situational awareness tools

to include access to television,

radio, things of that nature as well.

And this is the first time
that they specifically designed a bus

and are keeping a bus in inventory

that was designed
for the express purpose

of transporting
and protecting the president

and other high-level
Secret Service protectees.

In using the bus, it's typically
for the express purpose of being seen

and transporting the president
through a series of towns in remote areas

where the president doesn't typically go.

And as a result of that, there's a desire
usually on the part of the staff

to advertise
where the president's going to be,

so that people can line the routes
and be able to see him,

and all that, of course,
is anathema

to the general Secret Service
protective methodology.

[narrator] President Obama
used Ground Force One in 2011

during a barnstorming trip
across the Midwest.

Hey, how are you?

How are you, sir?
Good to see you again.

[narrator]
The coach solved many logistical problems

facing those responsible
for moving the president.

[Neil] It was very difficult to
daisy-chain Air Force One,

Marine One, the presidential limo
from stop to stop to stop.

Presidential motorcades
tie up traffic and create havoc.

I mean, moving the president around
is a big pain in the butt.

So, the bus makes what you might call
short, internodal transportation

much more convenient
for the president and the entourage.

[narrator]
While traveling by bus

was logistically easier
than by plane or motorcade,

it presented a new security challenge
for the Secret Service.

From an engineering
and technology standpoint,

Ground Force One might be
a more difficult vehicle to up-armor.

[gunshot]

[Neil] One of the weapons that must
keep the Secret Service up at night

is the Barrett .50-caliber
sniper rifle...

[gunshot]

...which fires a round
about that long

and has a standoff kill capacity
of a mile.

[gunshot]

It will knock down
a commercial aircraft,

and it's legal for sale
in a lot of states in the United States.

So, that's something
that must worry the Secret Service

more than air-to-ground missiles.

How do you stop that bullet
once it's flying through the air?

I don't think they know.

[narrator]
In case of emergency,

the bus is said to contain
a fire-suppression system

and tanks of oxygen
in the event of a chemical attack.

And just as the case
everywhere the president travels,

the bus carries a supply
of the Commander in Chief's blood.

But who has the special skills necessary
to operate the massive mega bus?

[Atkiss] Within the Secret Service,
there's a specific group of people

who do a tour of duty
as drivers of the limousine.

And from that group,
they select a specific subset

that then go through enhanced training
that's specific for commercial vehicles,

to ensure that they can apply
some of the same methodologies

that they would in a limousine
to driving the bus.

[narrator]
No matter what form of transport,

the secret to moving the president safely

is ultimately found in the capable hands
of the men and women

trained and ready to protect him.

[Funk] You have
the president's safety in your hands,

much as the same way you, as a parent,

would have your family's life
in your hand.

Only, it happens to be the President
of the United States.

And it's not the family car,
it's now the presidential limo.

[Cayon] Being a pilot on Air Force One
is just a surreal experience.

Watching the president walk to your
airplane from the Marine helicopter,

it's just an unbelievable feeling.

And the responsibility that you feel
is overwhelming.

[narrator] As the threats facing
the president grow in the 21st century

in complexity and cunning,

the Secret Service,
using the most advanced

and heavily-defended vehicles ever made,

is more than ready to successfully
and securely transport

the President
of the United States of America.