HMX-1

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Marine Helicopter Squadron 1
HMX-1 Insignia
Active	December 1, 1947 - present
Country	United States
Branch	USMC
Type	Medium Helicopter Squadron
Role	VIP Transport Operational Testing and Evaluation
Part of	Headquarters Marine Corps
Garrison/HQ	Marine Corps Base Quantico
Nickname	"Marine One"

Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), "The Nighthawks", based at Marine Corps Air Facility, Quantico, Virginia, is responsible for the helicopter transportation of the President of the United States, vice president, Cabinet members and VIPs. When the President is aboard, the Marine helicopter uses the call sign "Marine One." In addition to its VIP transport role, it is also tasked with operational test and evaluation (OT&E) of new flight systems for Marine Corps helicopters.

1 History
2 Aircraft
3 Executive Flight Detachment
4 See also
5 Reference
6 External links

[edit] History

In 1946 US Marine General Roy S. Geiger observed the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll and instantly recognized that atomic bombs could render amphibious landings difficult because of the dense concentrations of troops, ships and material at the beachhead. The Commandant of the Marine Corps convened a special board, the Hogaboom Board, that recommended that the USMC develop transport helicopters in order to allow a more diffuse attack on enemy shores. It also recommended that the USMC stand up an experimental helicopter squadron and HMX-1 was commissioned in 1947 with Sikorsky HO3S-1s. In 1948 the Marine Corps Schools came out with Amphibious Operations - Employment of Helicopters (Tentative) or Phib-31 which was the first manual for airmobile operations. The Marines used the term vertical envelopment instead of airmobility or air assault. HMX-1 performed its first vertical envelopment from the deck of an aircraft carrier in an exercise in 1949.

Marine One flying over Washington, D.C.

After the start of the Korean War, four HMX-1 helicopters were attached to VMO-6 and sent to the Pusan Perimeter in 1950. They were used for battlefield observation and control as well as medical evacuation and the rescue of fliers. During the Chosin campaign they were used for liaison between the different Marine units strung along the western edge of the Chosin Reservoir.

[edit] Aircraft

Marine helicopters landing on the White House lawn.

The first official presidential helicopter was the VH-34, beginning operations in September 1957. Since 1976 the U.S. Marine Corps has had sole responsibility for presidential helicopter transportation. The current fleet is made up of the VH-3D Sea King and the VH-60N Nighthawk which entered service with the squadron in 1962 and 1988, respectively.

HMX-1 is scheduled to receive 23 new Lockheed Martin VH-71 helicopters to replace the current fleet by 2008.

[edit] Executive Flight Detachment

The presidential and VIP flights fall under "Whiteside", the Executive Flight Detachment. Most activities of Whiteside are directed by the White House Military Office. Whiteside, although based at Quantico, Virginia, operates extensively out of an alert facility at Naval Air Station Anacostia in Washington DC, which conjoins Bolling Air Force Base. Operations by "Greenside", which is the rest of HMX-1, include operational test and evaluation, such as with the V-22 Osprey, a vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and support of exercises and training evolutions for the Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.

VIP transport helicopters can be distinguished from their counterparts by the white paint at the top of the aircraft, leading to the nickname "white tops."

Interestingly, the "X" in its squadron designator originally stood for Experimental, emblematic of its original mission of testing new helicopters and flight systems. However, as its operational role in VIP transportation overshadowed its OT&E role, the "Experimental" moniker was dropped, although the squadron designator was left unchanged.