Col. Ray LHeureux - Inside Marine One: Four U.S. Presidents, One Proud Marine, and the Worlds Most Amazing Helicopter

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TO MY PARENTS,

ROGER AND VIRGINIA LHEUREUX,

AND MY CHILDREN,

RAY JR. AND DELIA

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

As I banked the Presidents helicopter to the left, I was flying only about a hundred feet above a sea of people. It was the cold and clear morning of January 20, 2009, and I was flying President George W. Bush in Marine One , the worlds most famous helicopter. This was his victory lap, and we were cruising over a crowd of an estimated two million people who had gathered in Washington, D.C. for President Obamas inauguration ceremony.

The view through the glass of my cockpit was better than any 3-D movie screen could ever be. It was filled with a colorful panorama of waving hands, American flags on little sticks, and smiling faces breathing puffs of frost out through their hooded winter coats and caps. The Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial had become more than just historical landmarks for me. I used them as reference points to maintain a good altitude and circle over the National Mall once again.

From the ground, I can only imagine what people were thinking and feeling when they turned their eyes up at Marine One , the Presidents helicopter, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA emblazoned in white letters on each side. I swung around in a wide circle as the crowd continued to cheer and wave, and I got another spectacular view of our nations capital draped in the traditional bright red, white, and blue bunting that is used only once every four years. At one point, I actually caught a glimpse of my own helicopter on one of the many JumboTrons set up to display the inauguration ceremonies that day.

I had been President Bushs helicopter pilot for a couple of years and I had flown him all over the planet. I had grown accustomed to carrying precious cargo. But today was different. I wasnt carrying only President Bush, the man who had been my Commander in Chief until only a few moments earlier; I was also carrying First Lady Laura Bush, their two daughters, Jenna and Barbara, Jennas husband, Henry Hager, and their grandparents, former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush.

I knew that both former President Bushes and their families were looking down at the same sights as I was. But what were they thinking about? What did the people below us see? And what did we look like to the millions of people around the world watching us on TV? My sense of pride and patriotism swelled within me. I was both energized and humbled by the small part I was playing in this theater of living history.

I had already made a couple of laps over the crowd, trying to bide my time while Vice President Cheney made his way in a separate helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base, where he would introduce President Bush for his farewell speech to a large crowd gathered there. I was enjoying this so much that I could easily have made a hundred more laps, but this was my third lap. The boss knew how long the trip took, and I had to get my passengers to Andrews. Finally, the call came over the radio that the Vice President was almost in place.

I smiled and turned Marine One smoothly to the east, then made a slight turn to the right, aiming at the well-known confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, which led into Maryland. It had been a remarkable morning, and now it was time to land President Bush one last time. As I tried to soak in every moment of the historic flight, I was still amazed that a small-town boy from New England like me could be so lucky.

My name is Ray Frenchy LHeureux, and I am a former Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. I received my honorable discharge in 2011, after a thirty-year career. While I had many amazing experiences, the pinnacle of my career was serving in Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1). The first and largest aviation squadron in the Marine Corps, HMX-1 employs more than seven hundred hand-selected Marines, Sailors, and civilians, including a fleet of helicopters and its complement of pilots. HMX-1 has several different missions, but the primary and most visible one is providing executive transport to the President of the United States around the clock and around the globe.

Most people are aware that Air Force One is the Presidents plane, but fewer people realize that the President also has his own helicopter support ( Marine One ). Unlike most Americans, every move the President makes is closely coordinated. In fact, the President of the United States travels in one of three ways: in his motorcade, in Air Force One , or in Marine One . Air Force One will take the President on long flights, but his motorcade or Marine One will take him on the countless shorter trips once he arrives at his destination. And since flying in a helicopter doesnt require closing down streets and impacting local traffic, over the years it has become a preferred method of travel.

The United States is the only country in the world that provides executive transport to the Commander in Chief, no matter where he travels in the world. So, whether Air Force One brings the President from the White House to New York City or to Europe, Marine One will be right there standing by when he lands.

I joined the Marine Corps during college, and then spent most of my adult life chasing and exceeding all the flying dreams and aspirations Id had as a kid. From 1992 until 1996, I served as a young Marine Officer in HMX-1, supporting President George H. W. Bush and then President Bill Clinton, and participating in many historical operations. More recently, in 2006, I returned to HMX-1 to serve as Commanding Officer of HMX-1, assuming the duties of Presidential Helicopter Pilot for George W. Bush and then Barack Obama.

People seem to love behind-the-scenes stories of Marine One . I have also realized just how unique my jobmy responsibilitywas. Each Commanding Officer serves for only four years. I was the twenty-second out of fewer than twenty-five Marine One pilots in history. And since I also flew President Bush (41) and President Clinton early in my career, I may be the only Presidential Pilot in HMX-1 history to carry four consecutive Presidents. I am also the only Presidential Pilot to carry the last two presidents of the twentieth century and the first two of the twenty-first.

Most people see the President only through the lens of the media or news, and very few people know anything about HMX-1 or the inner workings of the green-and-white helicopter that they see landing on or taking off from the White House lawn. Im the grateful guy who had a birds-eye view of it all. Marine One has been called the worlds most famous helicopter. I wont dispute that. It still astounds me to think of all the people I have flown in that aircraft. I flew four Presidents, their families, and their staffs across the United States and around the world, day and night and in every kind of weather. Ive been charged with flying some of the most enigmatic and well-known leaders and personalities of our time. Ive gone hiking with Pope John Paul II. I shared drinks at Normandy with WWII vets. I landed Marine One on the lawn of Windsor Castle, and I went mountain biking across Camp David and the ranch in Crawford with President Bush.