JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Joint Base Andrews is best known as the home of Air Force 1 and for the mission of the 89th Airlift Wing. However, they are not the only unit that supports distinguished guests. Andrews has been home to the United States Army Priority Air Transport or USAPAT since 1988 when it was activated.
USAPAT provides worldwide executive airlift in support of U.S. Army senior leaders, Department of Defense executives, congressional delegations and combatant commanders.
The commanders of U.S. Army Forces Command, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, and Army Materiel Command are USAPAT's most frequent flyers.
"As a result of the clientele we fly, we are very particular in our selection process for crew members," said Army Maj. Matt Baldwin, USAPAT executive officer.
Unlike most Army units, USAPAT screens, recruits and selects their pilots, flight engineers and flight stewards.
USAPAT flight stewards, more commonly known as food-service specialists throughout the Army, are the face of USAPAT, and provide executive service to the customers during flight, to include preparation and serving of gourmet meals.
"Stewards are comprised of the most-elite culinary specialists the Army has and have usually gone to an advanced culinary training course," explained Sgt. 1st Class LaWan Stanley, USAPAT food services specialist.
In addition to support from the unit's flying crew, execution of USAPAT's day-to-day operations is only made possible with help from USAPAT soldiers back on station.
"Without the operation guys here on the ground supporting us by making and verifying all the plans, reserving hotels and rental cars and ensuring we have the clearance to fly over foreign countries, none of this would be possible," explains Baldwin.
Furthermore, every one on USAPAT's team is needed to operate the fleet's total six aircraft.
"We have three Gulfstream C-37s, a modified military version of the G550 and three Cessna UC-35As, which are Army-modified Citations," explains Army Staff Sgt. Erik Burns, USAPAT flight engineer. "We are the only unit in the Army with Gulfstreams."
In addition to carrying the Army's senior leadership around the world, the three C-37s carries a piece of Army history with them on every flight.
"The three C-37s in USAPAT's inventory were dedicated and named after an important moment in Army history with tail number corresponding to the year of that event" says Chief Warrant Officer 5 Randall Reynolds a standardization instructor pilot with USAPAT. "There is 1778: Valley Forge, 1863: Gettysburg and 1944: Normandy."
With their global mission, the UC-35A is primarily used for shorter trip in the continental U.S. but the C-37 has a much greater range and can span a quarter of the globe on a single flight.
"The aircraft can take off from Andrews with a full crew and make it to Turkey before needing to stop for fuel and even further if not fully loaded," said Burns.
As the only Army unit here, USAPAT is a valued asset to the Joint Base Andrew team.