June 2011 - Navy
By Cori Parker
VR-1 Commanding Officer
NAF Washington
The late afternoon sun bakes the concrete as we pull
to the hold short on a hot summer day. “Navy
One-Zero-Zero, you are cleared for takeoff,”
intones the tower controller; and we coast onto the
runway, the engines spooling. We are homeward bound,
a senior official and his anxious aide in the cabin, and a
difficult timeline still to meet. Moments later, the earth’s
features begin to blur as we climb past 40,000 feet to our
cruise altitude. It’s another successful launch in the world
of VIP travel. It’s another day in the life of VR-1.
Fleet Logistics Support Squadron One, as it is officially
called – a rather formal name for a decidedly eclectic unit –
is the Senior Leader airlift squadron for the U.S. Navy.
Outfitted with three C-37Bs (Gulfstream G550s) and
two C-20Ds (G-3s), VR-1 schedules and executes all air
transportation requirements for the Secretary of the Navy,
Chief of Naval Operations, Commandant of the Marine
Corps, and other select four-star officers and dignitaries as
directed by the Secretary of the Navy. Not surprisingly,
these senior officers and executives have reasons to be in
every corner of the globe; and we get them there. The
formal version of that tasking is “safe, reliable, connected
and secure on-demand Senior Leader airlift.” To the
squadron, however, it boils down to an old-school
aviationism: “on time, on target.” That’s what we do.
Flying executives around the world requires a lot of
flexibility, and that flexibility is embedded in our DNA.
We have 26 officers and 46 enlisted personnel from both
the Navy and Marine Corps and 28 contractors from three
different companies. Our military personnel are mostly
active duty and Full-Time Support (FTS), but our SELRES
component is a significant bastion of our corporate flying
knowledge. Our pilots originate in EA-6Bs, P-3s, AV-8Bs,
F/A-18s, C-130s, C-12s, and helicopters. All of them are
trained at Flight Safety International in Savannah, GA.
They are seasoned pilots, groomed to handle the most
adverse conditions in sometimes inhospitable locations.
Navy and Marine pilots fly interchangeably on any type of
mission. There are very few restrictions to where can go,
so we have to adapt to the most extreme environments.
Our diversity extends into our enlisted ranks. We have
crew chiefs that come from P-3, C-130 and CH-53
squadrons. We have Marine cooks that come from personal
quarters of commanding generals and from the austere
environment of serving Marines in the field. Navy Culinary
Specialists (CSs) come from galleys on aircraft carriers and
surface ships. Some take classes at the Culinary Institute of
America, and they teach each other the tricks of the trade.
Their backgrounds are varied and dramatically different.
They are alike only in their single-minded goal: to make
difficult, around-the-world missions seem effortless.
Those missions throw us some curveballs. In 2010
alone, we overcame severe weather systems, natural
disasters, and two occasions of striking air traffic controllers
to get our passengers to their destinations. During three
record-breaking storms in January and February, we
repositioned and hangared aircraft in far-flung locales in
order to outflank massive snowfalls. We have coordinated
UAVs to clear an approach corridor prior to a daytime landing
in Kandahar. We re-routed ourselves through Southern
Italy when most European air travel had ground to a halt
from the Icelandic volcanic ash belt. From Anchorage to
Mumbai, from Buenos Aires to Bejing, there is little we
haven’t seen.
We do our best to make those challenges transparent to
our VIP cargo – a select and distinguished group with enough
worries of their own – and we do that by providing worldclass
passenger service. Our Sailors and Marines are experts
at creating a relaxing sanctuary in the cabin miles above the
Earth’s surface. We do fine food and beverages, and we offer
movies. We have commercial and secure classified e-mail
and Internet. We are outfitted for occasional teleconferences.
And the cabin of a Gulfstream is a pretty decent place to
sleep as well. We provide whatever our customers require –
relaxation, sustenance, or a well-equipped airborne office –
so they can arrive at their destinations ready to conduct the
Department of the Navy’s business.
None of these tasks are particularly onerous, of course.
Our crews come to VR-1 for the travel, the spontaneity, and
the adventure; and in these areas, the squadron definitely
does not disappoint. Few other commands see so much of
the Earth in so little time. The SECNAV needs to add a leg
to Mumbai? That’s easy. The CNO needs to make a stop in
Ukraine? Shouldn’t be an issue. The Commandant needs
an extra day in Hawaii to talk to PACOM? High-fives in the
cockpit. No problem.
On these long flights around the globe, we cling to and
revel in our service histories. The Marines proclaim their
inherent superiority, the Navy pilots exaggerate their
own accomplishments, and our collective operational
pasts grow in importance like the best fish tales. Back at
the squadron, our contractors, ever the professionals, keep
us grounded in reality, calmly and coolly maintaining our
jets, providing administrative support, and doing scheduling
and training. Gulfstream works on the three G-550s and
DynCorp works on the two G-IIIs. Military personnel and
civilians work side-by-side. It is a strange and unintuitive
mix of people, personalities, and professions; and, somehow,
it all comes together in a seamless blend.
Like any other Navy/Marine Corps command, we take
our greatest pride in mission accomplishment. Back at
Andrews, we feel that pride as we break through the
clouds, the Capitol Dome in the distance, and we hear,
“Navy One Zero Zero, you are cleared to land. Welcome
home.” We touch down, exit the runway, and roll to a stop
in front of a waiting vehicle. Our passenger smiles, thanks
us, and departs the plane with the now-happy aide, off to
an important meeting in the Pentagon. We have delivered
our cargo on time, on target. Mission accomplished, a job
well done – and another day in the life of VR-1.