For anyone out there who read my first project, "Imagery Analysis of US Bureau of Prisons Facilities", you know that I have stated that one piece of information may seem innocent, but bring that information with another seemingly innocent piece of information and it could have interesting results. For those who haven't seen my first project, at the time of this writing it was located at http://uk.geocities.com/osin1066/.
During the closing days of finishing that project, I came across an innocuous quote from the air traffic controller who accepted control of Air Force One on September 11th, 2001. From an article on the faa.gov website and located at http://www.faa.gov/Sept11portraits/ownwords5-2.cfm?portrait=Mike%20Beeler, controller Mike Beeler of Shreveport, Louisiana wrote:
"When would things be back to normal? When would I work the next airplane? The answer came quickly. I received a call from the ZFW Controller, "Shreveport, handoff, Air Force One, six zero miles east of Barksdale AFB."
From that seemingly innocent comment I learned two things that I didn't know before:
1. That Air Force One is referred to as such with no attempt to obfuscate the plane's true identity.
2. That the civilian air traffic control system will still handle Air Force One handoffs through the system as it makes its way across the country, even during times of national crisis.
For a quick history lesson, after the 9/11 attacks, it was not really known how extensive the threat might be. President Bush was in Florida at the time and with news of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center, he left and Air Force One circled for awhile, probably establishing communication links and trying to ascertain the situation.
At this point, I am now going to go on a tirade at those who claim that 9/11 is a US Government conspiracy. First of all, if you are going to have a conspiracy, you don't tell 4000 Jews about it. Because with that sheer number, some blabber-mouth will inevitably spill the beans. Second, the US Government is incapable of perpetrating a conspiracy that would require a cast of thousands and keep it perfectly hidden. One only need to look at the second Iraq war and the Hurricane Katrina response to figure that one out. And finally, that asshole Osama Bin Laden admitted to it, so pull your heads out of your asses and get a real purpose in your life. Oh, by the way, the UFOs are not real, either.
Okay, now that I've got that out of my system, after flying around awhile, Air Force One headed to Barksdale AFB, LA., where the President made a speech, and then the plane headed to Offutt AFB, Nebraska, which once used to be the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command. Now, it's a hub for Delta. Only kidding.
This struck me as highly significant. Both these bases were former SAC bases, whose mission was to respond to a nuclear attack from the old Soviet Union. No doubt, they had significant and secure communications channels throughout the country and/or to critical allies. It was not known who was behind the attacks or how far they extended at the time, so it only makes sense to keep the President nearest to the most extensive communications system created for a First Strike scenario.
But could the actual flight path of Air Force One be deduced from just knowing the above information? Probably not, but the longer I thought about it, I realized that this project might be possible and would require a multiple facet approach:
Phase I- Research information on the Air Force One aircraft itself, its supporting facilities,etc.
Phase II- Gather as much information on the US Air Traffic Control system, its inner workings, facilities, etc.
Phase III- Learn about the Secret Service, how they operate, and where their major field offices are located.
Phase IV- Study the locations of VORTAC sites and their applicability to navigation for Air Force One. Although, I would imagine Air Force One uses modern GPS navigation systems, having a flight plan that incorporates the VORTAC system as backup would be advantageous.
Phase V- Study which military flight bases can accomodate a modified Boeing 747 and C-5 aircraft. Civilian airports would be considered for a particular scenario.
My premise is this- The Air Force is the one responsible for coming up with the flight plan for AF-1, however, they would probably have to incorporate input from the Secret Service and the FAA. Any possible flight plan would require backup emergency landing spots, preferably a military one, but civilian airfields would be considered. Assuming the President is on the 747 and not other aircraft, any airfield under consideration must be able to support a Boeing 747 and C5 cargo aircraft. The plan would also need to take into account which Secret Service field offices could render assistance either at the planned destination or along the route. And finally, the plan would take into account which fighter or search and rescue units could respond in a timely manner should the need arise.
However, a problem arises when AF-1 travels a long distance. There could be hundreds of possible routes to deduce, which means a low probability of predicting AF-1 flight routes from the ground. But, I believe one has a higher probability of success as one comes closest to the point of departure or arrival. That's because AF-1 has to eventually fly into the direction of its destination.
Of course, all of this is just conjecture. I may have over-estimated the degree at which multiple agencies coorperate with each other. Undoubtedly, the neo-cons will whine profusely about this project. As I said before in my first project, if I'm releasing it, it IS too late.
Some of the phases listed above will be scenario specific, meaning I'm not going to research every airport between Andrews AFB and Jesusville. Entities such as the ATC system and the Secret Service are easier to build dossiers on because of the very nature of how they are structured. But, it is not my intent to provide every bit of information on every airport in the country. The scenarios I provide are merely examples in this thought experiment. The President's calendar is no longer displayed on the whitehouse.gov website for security reasons, despite the fact that you can find information where he will be from a gazillion bloggers on gop.com or the press. However, it should be obvious that he goes to Crawford, Texas a lot. Thanks to a mouthy Texas reporter I know he lands at Fort Hood. And during my research, I came across another odd but very eye-opening piece of information. The President, and not just the current one, every year gives the commencement address to one of the 4 major military service academies (there are actually 5, but the Merchant Marine is a red-headed step child), and this is rotated each year among them. This is probably the only example I came across where the President keeps a predictable schedule. In 2002, he gave the commencement speech at West Point. In 2003, he went to the Coast Guard Academy. In 2004 he gave speeches at the Air Force Academy and Merchant Marine Academy. Finally, in 2005 he gave the speech at the Naval Academy. If I'm right about the rotation cycle, he will be back at West Point in late May/early June 2006, which according to another reporter, Air Force One usually lands at Stewart International when he travels to West Point.
Scenario 1- Air Force One flies from Andrews AFB to Crawford, TX.
Scenario 2- Air Force One travels to West Point.
Scenario 3- Air Force One travels to the Coast Guard Academy.
Scenario 4- Air Force One travels to the Air Force Academy.
Scenario 5- Air Force One travels to the Naval Academy. I haven't decided what to do about this one, since I doubt the President would take AF-1, but most likely Marine One.
Obligatory line to keep Geocities from deleting project- 835834583748.