The Air Force is investigating an incident of an individual gaining unauthorized access to Joint Base Andrews, the Prince George’s County, Maryland, military facility that houses Air Force One.
“An unauthorized individual gained access to Joint Base Andrews,” a base spokesman said in an email to Military Times. “The incident is under investigation. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations is lead on this investigation. Any requests for information related to the incident can be referred to OSI.”
AFOSI spokeswoman Linda Card confirmed to Military Times that someone got onto the base and that investigators are interviewing that individual.
Card said she had no further details.
Officials could not say how far the breach extended or whether the individual reached aircraft on the flightline.
The intruder entered the base a day ahead of President Joe Biden’s flight out of JBA to Delaware, according to the White House schedule released Thursday night.
JBA is home to the 316th Wing, 89th Airlift Wing and Air Force One, the 113th Wing, ANG Readiness Center, 459th Air Refueling Wing and Naval Air Facility Washington.
Known as “The President’s Wing,” the 89th Airlift Wing serves as the elite Air Mobility Command wing for transporting VIPs around the world, according to the base Facebook page.
“Not only does Andrews provide service for America’s senior officials, but also kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers, popes, and local and foreign military leaders make Andrews AFB their first stop in the United States,” it states.
Technically, “Air Force One” is used to designate any Air Force aircraft carrying the president, but it is now standard practice to use the term to refer to specific planes that are equipped to transport the Commander-in-Chief, according to the White House homepage.
Today, this name refers to one of two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft, which carry the tail codes 28000 and 29000.
The Air Force designation for the aircraft is VC-25A. It is only referred to as Air Force One when the president is on board.
This is a developing story. Stay with Air Force Times for updates.
Howard Altman is an award-winning editor and reporter who was previously the military reporter for the Tampa Bay Times and before that the Tampa Tribune, where he covered USCENTCOM, USSOCOM and SOF writ large among many other topics.