# Who besides the president rides in a presidential helicopter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 15, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712 "2021-09-15T18:47:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/1 "2021-09-15T18:47:45Z")
Walking out to lunch earlier today and saw three identical helicopters pass overhead in what appeared to be (to these old eyes) POTUS’s livery. Biden’s vacation home is about a mile and a half from here, and he has visited via Marine One (and two decoys) twice since becoming president. Usually his pending visits are announced a day or two ahead because of traffic impacts, airspace closures, etc. I see nothing in the local news today. Who else might be in those helicopters? Does anyone besides the president get the shell game with the two decoy helicopters? (I can’t see why the VP would be going to Biden’s beach house.) Would FLOTUS travel this way when alone? Or maybe a training flight? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/2 "2021-09-15T19:10:54Z")
FWIW, JFK was known to travel with his family in [Army One.](https://www.army.mil/article/187995/presidential_display_army_aviation_museum_piece_carried_jfk_ike) ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/3 "2021-09-15T20:52:08Z")
According to Factbase, Biden was in his Wilmington residence and was there on Sunday and left on Monday at 8AM. He was in California on Monday, back in the White House Monday night and been there all day today. It’s a pretty cool website for president watching. Anyway, that wasn’t trying to answer who was on the helicopters, just confirming it almost certainly wasn’t Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/4 "2021-09-15T21:02:02Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Who else might be in those helicopters? The pilots? ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/5 "2021-09-15T21:39:31Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The pilots? heh,heh. Someone was going to say it. I didn’t want it to be me. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/6 "2021-09-15T21:40:18Z")
It’s a factual answer. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/7 "2021-09-15T21:41:02Z")
Be careful. I have an explosive space modulator and I’m not afraid to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/8 "2021-09-15T21:45:20Z")
Hmm, Dr. Jill was in Milwaukee and Iowa today so it wasn’t her. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/9 "2021-09-15T21:49:43Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Or maybe a training flight? That would be my guess. The VC-25As used as Air Force One occasionally do touch-and-go training flights near where I live, so we sometimes see “Air Force One” circling around and around and around. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/11 "2021-09-16T08:37:05Z")
Technically, it’s only Air Force One (or Army One or Marine One or Executive One) when the PotUS is on board. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/12 "2021-09-16T09:19:06Z")
It’s “Marine Two” if the VP is travelling via helicopter without the President. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/13 "2021-09-16T20:36:29Z")
The President often travels on Marine One with senior staff in addition to his family, as well as advisors or guests for the particular event to which he’s traveling. I believe the military officer with the bag containing the nuclear codes (“the football”) is also aboard so as to be close at hand, if needed. This is a decent overview, with some pics of the interior when President Obama had various people riding along: [There Is No Helicopter Like Marine One](https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-one-2016-7#unlike-most-helicopters-marine-one-is-so-quiet-that-the-president-can-speak-in-a-normal-tone-of-voice-8) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/14 "2021-09-16T21:10:55Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Who else might be in those helicopters? Without doing research, I’m going to guess that various people who need to be with or near the President are in the other two copters. Secret Service agents, for example. Various administrative assistants, communication specialists, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/15 "2021-09-16T21:38:32Z")
I wasn’t clear enough in my OP. My question was who would fly in a presidential helicopter apparently in a three aircraft shell game formation: > As a security measure, Marine One always flies in a group of as many as five identical helicopters. One helicopter carries the president, while the others serve as decoys. Upon take-off these helicopters shift in formation to obscure the location of the president. This has been referred to as a “presidential [shell game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_game)”. in the vicinity of Biden’s vacation home when Biden is not on board (he was somewhere else, as was FLOTUS)? Best guess so far was that this was a training run to familiarize the pilots with landing at the improvised helipad (state park parking lot) near the home. Does anyone else get the shell game treatment? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/16 "2021-09-16T22:34:41Z")
…or maybe they were practicing the shell game maneuvers? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/17 "2021-09-17T09:24:04Z")
Even if they were just re-locating, they’d still travel in the group of three. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/18 "2021-09-17T18:55:10Z")
Biden arrived in town about an hour and a half ago. His schedule said Andrews to Dover AFB (presumably Air Force One) then on to Rehoboth. Heard a lot of traffic in the air, but since he was coming down from Dover didn’t see much - only a Coast Guard helicopter patrolling down near us. I’m guessing the helicopters I saw Wednesday were pre-positioning themselves at Dover in anticipation of today. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/19 "2021-09-17T21:38:18Z")
I’ve been involved in security for three presidential visits. I was present at the landing zone for two of them. The “decoy” helicopters are filled to the brim with people in suits. The president always travels with a full staff. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-besides-the-president-rides-in-a-presidential-helicopter/950712/20 "2021-09-19T19:27:53Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > …Heard a lot of traffic in the air, but since he was coming down from Dover didn’t see much - only a Coast Guard helicopter patrolling down near us. When President Obama was in the eastern 'burbs of Cleveland for a fundraiser in Oct. 2010, he drove in a motorcade from Cleveland Hopkins airport, but I noticed a lone Coast Guard helicopter briefly overhead: [In which I meet the President and smooch the First Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-meet-the-president-and-smooch-the-first-lady/557592)