Aboard Army One

On July 12, 1957, President Eisenhower became the first president to travel by helicopter, a Bell UH-13-J, from the White House South Lawn to Camp David in the Maryland Catoctin Mountains, about 62 miles as the crow flies or about 30 minutes flying time. It was a civil defense emergency evacuation drill for 'Operation Alert' conducted routinely during the early Cold War era, but the first time a helicopter was used during a presidential evacuation.

At the time, helicopters were considered experimental, but they had been in limited military use since at least 1947. Still, by 1957 the idea of helicopters for official use wasn't yet granted, especially for presidential travel. Their use, though, was strongly pushed by President Eisenhower to the Secret Service. It would save time for small trips rather than the obtrusive motorcade and help make the president more accessible on short notice when needed, he argued.

After the evacuation by helicopter proved safe for the president, it was decided that the Army would manage mostly presidential travel as the U.S. Army Executive Flight Detachment based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and the Marine Corp would manage HMX-1 (Marine Helicopter Experimental Squadron 1) based at Marine Air Station in Quantico, Virginia for military and other highly secure travel originally established in 1947 to primarily test helicopters with Army and Marine pilots alternating presidential travel as needed. With an Army pilot the call sign would be Army One and with a Marine pilot it would be Marine One with a plexiglass mounted designation under the helicopter boarding stairs indicating which service was in command.

By 1976, though, the joint administration was less helpful to the command structure. The story is told that the Commandant of the Marine Corps simply asked President Ford for the Marines to take full command of HMX-1 and the president agreed. From then on, the Marine Corp took full command and the presidential helicopter was designated only as Marine One and piloted only by Marine Corp officers when the president was aboard.

Over time, the helicopter aesthetic became less basic military and more comfortable. Even a small bathroom was installed for comfort. This set of whiskey tumblers from the Nixon and Ford Administrations show that comfort was well established by at least the Nixon Administration starting in 1969 with its full wet bar fully operational. Separately labeled souvenir items like cigarettes, matches, napkins, and glassware sporting the Army One tag and the presidential signature are actually quite scarce and have yet to be found for the Johnson, Kennedy or Eisenhower administrations.

After 1976 presidential items aboard the helicopter sports the tag Marine One and continue with that designation to this day.