Air Force One Travels from Andrews AFB to West Point, NY

By

OSIN

(Scenario II)

The images for this scenario are located here.

In this scenario AF-1 will be traveling from Andrews AFB to West Point, NY for the President to give the commencement address. From my research on the Internet, one reporter wrote that when AF-1 visits West Point, it lands at Stewart International (SWF). I will make the following assumptions:

1. The entire route AF-1 will take is probably unpredictable due to the large number of possible routes, but might be more predictable as one comes closer to the point of destination or departure.
2. Nearby VORs/VORTACs will be key navigation tools in guiding AF-1 to its destination.
3. There are no intermediate stops along the way.

Airnav.com says this about the trip: 205.3 nautical miles NE; Initial true course: 037 degrees.

Since I will be concentrating on both the departure and destination points, this scenario and subsequent phases 4&5 (see Project2 Homepage) will be structured around Andrews AFB and Stewart International.

Andrews AFB

According to http://www.airnav.com, these are the nearby VORs/VORTACs around Andrews:

Red Star- Andrews Vortac (ADW)- at field (-76.8662511 38.8072125)
2- Washington VOR (DCA)- 8.4 miles from ADW (-77.0364350 38.8594531)
3- Nottingham VORTAC (OTT)- 8.5 miles from ADW (-76.7447453 38.7058667)
4- Baltimore VORTAC (BAL)- 23.6 miles from ADW (-76.6612561 39.1710636)
5- Armel VORTAC (AML)- 29 miles from ADW (-77.4666953 38.9345964)
6- Brooke VORTAC (BRV)- 36.5 miles from ADW (-77.3529033 38.3362833)
7- Patuxent VORTAC (PXT)- 38.3 miles from ADW (-76.4002250 38.2878472)

Nearby Airports:
Ronald Reagon National
Dulles International
Dover AFB (Delaware)

Military Assistance: 113th Fighter Wing (Andrews)

Secret Service Offices that can provide assistance:
Washington, D.C. HQ
Eastern Shore Office at the Naval Academy
Baltimore (possibly)

Stewart International

West Point is about 8-10 miles SE of this airport. The green dot on the map is where West Point is roughly located. It appears that for the last few years, graduation day has been held on a Saturday. If that is the case, the two best dates in 2006 would be May 27th and June 3rd. However, in 1998 it was held on a Wednesday. Whatever the date, graduation day should be in the last week of May or the first week of June. Other sources on the web mention that the ceremonies are held at Michie Stadium. Michie Stadium is in the south end of the campus. The stadium has a capacity of about 40,000 people.

According to Airnav.com, these are the closest VORs/VORTACs:

Red Star- Stewart International (no VOR/VORTAC listed)
2- Kingston VOR (IGN) 16 miles from SWF (41.6654547 -73.8222997)
3- Huguenot VOR (HUO) 22.6 miles from SWF (41.4096769 -74.5916053)
4- Carmel VOR (CMK) 27.1 miles from SWF (41.280069 -73.5813489)
5- Pawling VOR (PWL) 27.7 miles from SWF (41.7697714 -73.6005514)
6- Sparta VORTAC (SAX) 32.7 miles from SWF (41.0675136 -74.5383250)
7- Teterboro VOR (TEB) 39.4 miles from SWF (40.8487222 -74.0622500)

Nearby Airports:
La Guardia
JFK

Military Assistance: According to the SWF diagram, the Army had a section on the south edge of the airfield, but that property was returned to New York State. I'm not sure if the Army still has a post here or not. The Air National Guard and Marines supposedly have their own section in the east. The 105th Airlift Wing of the New York ANG is the one located here and they use C-5's (so does the Prez). The New York State police have an office here as well. I don't know what unit the Marines have here, but they have a wing of C-130 aircraft.

Secret Service offices that could provide assistance-
New York
White Plains