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mgburg · #56 01-15-2009, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Doe

... Most of the doos and don'ts I recall were about staying the hell back from Air Force One. They had a Suburban with a gun turret mounted on top, and said they would blow you away if you came within the wingspan. There wasn't much to worry about people, until we got very close to the hotel, because they took us a different route than was published in the paper. We were all driving PI Crown Vics, except to Kiawah, I drove a Town Car limo. ... The secret service forgot to do some checking prior to our leaving Kiawah that they had done for the previous departures

Yep, same with my tour...when we got to the airport in IA., the WH Press Rep in our vehicle mentioned to me to stay in line, everyone was to leave the door handles alone and no one was to step out of the vehicle for ANY REASON while AF1 was on the ground...we were about 200 yards (or more) back from the rear of the plane...the President and company boarded, and we sat 'til the wheels cleared the ground, then we sat some more...only when the SS gave us the thumb, the drivers could put the vehicle in gear and FOLLOW the vehicle, ahead of it, off the tarmac.

All the while...SS agents, on foot and on the roof of the terminal, kept an eye (and cross-hairs) on us at all times...in the f***ing rain...them's some hard-core guys there!!!

BTW, the fastest we ran was around 75mph...45 in school zones, but no faster than 75 on the open road...rain and all...