View source for Air Force Two

{{Short description|Air traffic control call sign of any US Air Force aircraft carrying the vice president of the US}}
{{Other uses||Air Force Two (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
[[File:USAF C-32A.jpg|thumb|upright=1.14|The [[Boeing C-32]], a variant of the [[Boeing 757|757]], is the usual transportation for the vice president of the United States]]

'''Air Force Two''' is the [[air traffic control]] designated [[Aviation call signs|call sign]] held by any [[United States Air Force]] aircraft carrying the [[vice president of the United States]], but not the [[President of the United States|president]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=90 |title=Factsheets: C-32 |date=January 2006 |work=U.S. Air Force |access-date=30 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803093535/http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=90 |archive-date=3 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/ATC/atc0204.html |title=Order 7110.65R (Air Traffic Control) §2-4-20 ¶7 |access-date=27 August 2007 |date=14 March 2007 |website=Federal Aviation Administration |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012042224/http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/ATC/atc0204.html |archive-date=12 October 2009}}</ref> The term is often associated with the [[Boeing C-32]], a modified [[Boeing 757|757]] which is most commonly used as the vice president's transport. Other [[89th Airlift Wing]] aircraft, such as the [[Boeing C-40 Clipper]], [[C-20B]], [[C-37A]], and [[C-37B]], have also served in this role.{{cn|date=June 2024}} The [[Boeing VC-25|VC-25A]], the aircraft most often used by the president as [[Air Force One]], has also been used by the vice president as Air Force Two.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/03/10/cheney.htm |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |title=Cheney heads overseas to talk terrorism |access-date=30 January 2009 |date=10 March 2002 |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/cheneytrip/notebook_311.htm |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |title=Reporter's Notebook on Cheney's Mideast trip: Day 1: London |last=Whitelaw |first=Kevin |date=11 March 2002 |access-date=30 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113154817/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/cheneytrip/notebook_311.htm |archive-date=13 January 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History==
[[Richard Nixon]] was one of the first senior officials in American government to travel internationally via jet aircraft on official business, taking a [[Boeing C-137 Stratoliner|Boeing VC-137A Stratoliner]] on his visit to the [[Soviet Union]] in July 1959 for the [[Kitchen Debate]]s as Eisenhower's vice president.<ref>"First of 3 Jets for President and Top Aides Is Unveiled." ''The New York Times'', April 28, 1959, p. 3.</ref><ref name="Kitchen Debates">{{cite web |last1=O'Halloran |first1=Thomas |title=U.S.S.R. Moscow, on plane, American B-707, at airport, American exhibit |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/ds.07391/ |website=Library of Congress|date=January 1959 }}</ref>

Domestically, non-presidential VIP travel still relied on the prop powered [[Convair C-131 Samaritan|Convair VC-131 Samaritan]] aircraft until [[Nelson Rockefeller]] was named Gerald Ford's vice president in 1974. Rockefeller personally owned a [[Grumman Gulfstream II]] jet that he preferred to the much slower Convair; Rockefeller's Gulfstream II then used the "[[Executive One#Executive Two|Executive Two]]" callsign while he was in office. This would prompt the [[89th Airlift Wing#Aircraft|89th Airlift Wing]]'s acquisition of three [[McDonnell Douglas C-9#Variants|McDonnell Douglas VC-9C]]s in 1975, adding to their three VC-137s jets used for senior executive international travel.<ref name="Rockefeller Style">{{cite news |last1=Charlton |first1=Linda |title=A Maine Vacation, Rockefeller Style |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/25/archives/a-maine-vacation-rockefeller-style-an-aggressive-driver.html |access-date=30 June 2021 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=25 Aug 1974}}</ref><ref name="Petro">{{cite book
  | last = Petro
  | first = Joseph
  | author2 = Jeffrey Robinson
  | title = Standing Next to History: An Agent's Life Inside the Secret Service
  | publisher = Thomas Dunne Books
  | year = 2005
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 0-312-33221-1
  | url-access = registration
  | url = https://archive.org/details/standingnexttohi00petr
  }}</ref>

Prior senior executive aircraft included the former presidential [[Douglas C-54 Skymaster|Douglas VC-54 Skymaster]], [[Douglas DC-6#Surviving aircraft|Douglas VC-118A]], and [[Lockheed C-121 Constellation]]s, held in reserve as back-up aircraft for the newer aircraft designated for presidential travel.

==Design==
Aircraft allocated for use by the vice president and [[Senior Executive Service (United States)|senior executives]] authorized to travel under the [[Special Air Mission]] designation operated by the [[89th Airlift Wing]] can be distinguished from the distinctive [[Raymond Loewy]] [[Air Force One#Loewy's livery design|Air Force One]] livery by the lack of the [[Steel blue]] {{Color sample|#3C79B4}} [[cheatline]] and cap over the cockpit.<ref name="CNN Style">{{cite news |last1=Prisco |first1=Jacopo |title=Out of the blue: A look back at Air Force One's classic design |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/air-force-one-trump-design-history/index.html |access-date=28 June 2021 |agency=CNN |date=3 July 2019}}</ref><ref name="Color Scheme">{{cite web |last1=Naidu |first1=Keshav |title=Air Force One Color Scheme |url=https://www.schemecolor.com/air-force-one.php |website=schemecolor.com |access-date=29 June 2021}}</ref><!--<ref>{{harvnb|Hardesty|2003|page=70}}</ref>-->

Former presidential aircraft that has been redesignated for non-presidential VIP travel will be repainted in the secondary livery as illustrated in the difference between [[VC-137C SAM 26000]] and [[VC-137C SAM 27000]]'s current paint schemes. Both SAM 26000 and SAM 27000 were relegated to a non-presidential VIP role upon delivery of their replacements, but SAM 27000 was repainted by the [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library|Reagan Library]] to match its Reagan era paint scheme (see chronology of [[:VC-137C SAM 27000#/media/File:President_Ronald_Reagan_and_Nancy_Reagan_arriving_at_Vnukovo_airport_in_Moscow.jpg|SAM 27000]] images under Reagan, George W. Bush, and as currently maintained by the library).<ref name="CNN Style"/><ref name="AF1whmuseum">{{Cite web |title=Air Force One |url=http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/special/AF1/ |access-date=June 26, 2019 |website=whitehousemuseum.org}}</ref>

==Incidents==
In 2012, [[Joe Biden]] switched to another plane after a [[bird strike]] happened to the plane in which he was flying in California.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/16/6-fun-facts-air-force-two/762010001/ |title=6 fun facts about Air Force Two |first=Maureen |last=Groppe |date=16 October 2017 |newspaper=[[The Indianapolis Star]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-birdstrike-idUSBRE83J1ML20120420 |title=Air Force Two carrying Biden struck by birds, lands safely |website=[[Reuters]] |date=20 April 2012}}</ref> A similar incident in 2020 involving a bird strike in the engine during takeoff caused Air Force Two to land back at a nearby New Hampshire airport while it was carrying [[Mike Pence]] and some of his staff.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/09/22/air-force-two-carrying-pence-returns-airport-after-hitting-bird/3498680001/ |title=Air Force Two, carrying Vice President Mike Pence, returns to airport after hitting bird on takeoff |first1=Savannah |last1=Behrmann |first2=John |last2=Fritze |date=22 September 2020 |newspaper=USA Today}}</ref> In June 2021, Air Force Two, with [[Kamala Harris]] on board, was forced to return to [[Joint Base Andrews]] in [[Maryland]] after suffering a "technical issue." Harris, who was on her way to Guatemala, resumed her flight on a different aircraft approximately an hour and a half later.<ref>[https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2021/06/06/Kamala-Harris-returns-Joint-Base-Andrews-technical-issue-Air-Force-Two-Guatemala/6451623013443/ 'Technical issue' forces Harris back to air base after departing on trip to Guatemala.]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Marine Two]]
* [[Coast Guard Two]]
* [[1254th Air Transport Wing]]
* [[89th Airlift Wing]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}

{{VicePresidentialCallsigns}}
{{White House Military Office}}
{{USAF equipment}}
{{US Air Force navbox}}

[[Category:Boeing 757]]
[[Category:Call signs]]
[[Category:United States Air Force]]
[[Category:United States special-purpose aircraft]]
[[Category:Vice presidency of the United States]]