page_title: Boeing VC-25
section_title: VC-25A
hierarchical_section_title: Boeing VC-25 / Operational history / VC-25A
caption_attribution_description: English: Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (Dec. 30, 2006) – The casket of Gerald R. Ford, 38th president of the United States, arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Dec. 30, 2006, as part of a national farewell funeral procession honoring the former commander in chief. DoD personnel are helping to honor Ford, the 38th president of the United States, who passed away on Dec. 26th. Ford's remains were flown to Washington, D.C., for a state funeral in the Capitol Rotunda and a funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, followed by burial services at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Mich. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Craig Clapper (RELEASED)
context_page_description: The Boeing VC-25 is a military version of the Boeing 747 airliner, modified for presidential transport and operated by the United States Air Force as Air Force One, the call sign of any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States.
  Only two examples of this aircraft type are in service; they are highly modified Boeing 747-200Bs, designated VC-25A and having tail numbers 28000 and 29000. Although technically the Air Force One designation applies to the aircraft only while the President is on board, the term is commonly used to refer to the VC-25 in general. The two aircraft often operate in conjunction with Marine One helicopters, which ferry the President to airports whenever a vehicle motorcade would be inappropriate. Two new aircraft, designated VC-25B and based on the Boeing 747-8, have been ordered by the USAF.
context_section_description: The VC-25A replaced the VC-137C (a military version of the Boeing 707) as the mainstay of the Air Force One fleet. On some occasions, the VC-25s are used to transport the US Vice President, for which service they adopt the call sign Air Force Two. These aircraft are maintained and operated as military operations by the Presidential Airlift Group, part of Air Mobility Command's 89th Airlift Wing, based at Andrews Field in Camp Springs, Maryland.
  The aircraft can also be operated as a military command center in the event of an incident such as a nuclear attack. Operational modifications include aerial refueling capability and anti-aircraft missile countermeasures. The electronics on board are connected with approximately 238 miles (383 km) of wiring, twice that of a regular 747. All wiring is covered with heavy shielding for protection from a nuclear electromagnetic pulse in the event of a nuclear attack. The aircraft also has electronic countermeasures (ECMs) to jam enemy radar, flares to avoid heat-seeking missiles, and chaff to avoid radar-guided missiles. All small arms and ammunition stores not in the physical possession of the Secret Service on board the VC-25s are stowed and secured by the Secret Service in separate locked compartments, each with a different locking mechanism for added security.  Many of the VC-25's other capabilities are classified for security reasons.
  After a presidential inauguration resulting in a change in office, the outgoing president is provided transport on a VC-25 aircraft to their home destination.  The aircraft for this flight does not use the Air Force One call sign because it is not carrying the president in office.  For both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, the flight was known as Special Air Mission 28000, where the number represents the aircraft's tail number.
  The VC-25As have also been used to transport deceased former presidents, as the guest area aft of "the White House" has chairs and tables that can be removed and the casket laid in their place. The bodies of Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and George H.W. Bush were transported to Washington for their state funerals, and then on to their final resting places. Colonel Mark Tillman, pilot for President George W. Bush, said, "We'll take care of the president from basically when he's in office to when he lays in state." For the funeral of President Ronald Reagan in 2004, Tillman said that the crew converted the front of the aircraft to look the way it would have appeared when Reagan was president; President and Nancy Reagan's Air Force One jackets were placed on the chairs to "make them feel at home". A specially designed hydraulic lifter (similar to the type used by airline catering) with the presidential seal affixed to the sides lifts the casket up to the portside aft door to enter the VC-25A. The tradition of placing the caskets in the passenger cabin dates back to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, when the crew did not want the president's body placed in the cargo hold, and again during the state funeral of Lyndon B. Johnson.
caption: The casket of President Gerald Ford being lowered from the cabin of SAM 29000 at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, 2006.
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