30 Fascinating Photos Of HMX-1's Ospreys Working For The White House

[Major Shaitan Singh]

Everyone knows of Marine One, the green and white helicopters that the President flies on, but few people realize the White House vertical airlift mission is so much larger than that. The backbone of this force is a fleet of green painted MV-22 Ospreys that flies the Press Pool, White House Staff, Secret Service and dignitaries during the President’s travels.


The squadron that operates these green tilt-rotor transports is the same one that flies the ‘white top’ helicopters used as Marine One; Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1). You canread all about HMX-1’s executive airlift mission in this past Foxtrot Alpha feature.In the meantime, take a look at these 30 incredible photos of the squadron and their ‘green top’ MV-22 Opreys in action.

All captions are from the photographer or service listed:

Top Shot: An osprey helicopter lands in the rain near the Schloss Elmau hotel near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, Monday, June 8, 2015, to transport delegation members traveling with U.S. President Barack Obama from the G-7 Summit, to the Munich airport en route to Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A Marine works by the back hatch as sunset falls over New York, as seen from the Osprey carrying the traveling press on President Barack Obama’s New York stop where he attended fundraisers Thursday, July 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A US Marine watches as an Osprey helicopter lands in Los Banos, California Friday, February 14, 2014. US President Barack Obama arrived on Marine 1 to address the drought situation. AFP PHOTO / Pool / Wally Skalij (Photo credit should read Wally SKALIJ/AFP/Getty Images)

Two U.S, Marine Corps Osprey aircraft that had escorted President Barack Obama on Marine One, return to the 171st Air Refueling Wing at the Pennsylvania Air National Guard base in Coraopolis, Pa., after Obama spoke at a steel plant in the Pittsburgh area on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

White House support staff and media traveling with US President Barack Obama board a US Marine Boeing V-22 Osprey helicopter during the NATO summit in Newport, Wales, September 4, 2014. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Members of a Secret Service counter assault team leave an Osprey aircraft before US President Barack Obama meets with locals at the San Luis Water Facility February 14, 2014 in Firebaugh, California. Obama is visiting the Fresno area where he will speak with members of the community and tour drought effected areas. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft from Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 (HMX-1) during a flight from the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., July 29, 2014. The First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff of the British Royal Navy, Adm. Sir George Zambellas, not shown, was onboard as part of the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Counterpart Program, which invites foreign military leaders to visit the United States and interact with U.S. military leaders. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael C. Guinto/Released)

An Osprey, left, and Marine helicopter, right, are seen front the window of another Osprey as President Barack Obama arrives in Los Altos Hills, Calif., to attend a fundraising event Wednesday, July 23, 2014, during his three-day West Coast trip to Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

 

[Major Shaitan Singh]

Marine Corps Osprey helicopters are seen at the Wall Street heliport in New York, Tuesday, March 11, 2014. The tilt-rotor aircraft, can take off like a helicopter but fly like an airplane, provides transportation support for Presidential trips, helping shuttling members of the White House staff, media, and Secret Service. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Secret Service agents ride in the Osprey taking the traveling press back to Air Force One after attending President Obama’s speech by the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” a landmark event of the civil rights movement, Saturday, March 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

View of a US Bell Boeing V22 Osprey aircraft ready to land in Tocumen International Airport, in Panama City, on April 9, 2015, just minutes before the arrival of US President Barack Obama. AFP PHOTO/ RAUL ARBOLEDA (Photo credit should read RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)

The blade of an osprey helicopter transporting media traveling with US President Barack Obama extends above the landscape en route to Munich Airport soon after departing the G-7 summit in Schloss Elmau hotel near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, Monday, June 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A US Marine watches out the window of an Osprey aircraft while landing near the San Luis Water Facility February 14, 2014 in Firebaugh, California. Obama is visiting the Fresno area where he will speak with members of the community and tour drought effected areas. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Three U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys cycle through pre-flight checks in preparation for the arrival of President Barack Obama to RAF Fairford, United Kingdom, Sept. 3, 2014. The aircraft provided aerial support during the president’s flight from Fairford to Wales for the 2014 NATO Summit. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jarad A. Denton/Released)

Nighthawk 4, an Osprey carrying the press and White House staff, flies over Chicago, Illinois, February 19, 2015. AFP PHOTO/JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Marine One, carrying US President Barack Obama, is seen above an Osprey aircraft as it approaches to land on the South Street heliport on lower Manhattan in New York, New York on June 17, 2014. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

 

[Major Shaitan Singh]

A member of the US Marine Corps assigned to the HMX Presidential helicopter group uses nightvision goggles to look out the window of a US Marine Boeing V-22 Osprey helicopter flying in support of US President Barack Obama’s visit to the NATO summit in Newport, Wales, England, September 4, 2014. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft from Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 (HMX-1) during a flight from the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., July 29, 2014. The First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff of the British Royal Navy, Adm. Sir George Zambellas, not shown, was onboard as part of the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Counterpart Program, which invites foreign military leaders to visit the United States and interact with U.S. military leaders. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael C. Guinto/Released)

A US helicopter lands at the Marshall Center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on June 5, 2015. State and government leaders of the G7 countries are meeting on 07 and 08 June 2015 in Schloss Elmau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen. AFP PHOTO / DPA / SVEN HOPPE +++GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read SVEN HOPPE/AFP/Getty Images)

Buildings are seen along the East River from an Osprey aircraft while accompanying an airlift with US President Barack Obama October 7, 2014 in New York. Obama is traveling to New York and Connecticut to raise funds for Democrats. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

View of a US Bell Boeing V22 Osprey aircraft ready to land in Tocumen International Airport, in Panama City, on April 9, 2015, just minutes before the arrival of US President Barack Obama. AFP PHOTO/ RAUL ARBOLEDA (Photo credit should read RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Bo, the Obama family dog, and luggage are taken off an MV-22 “Osprey” after it flew for the first time in support of a Presidential flight aboard Marine One on arrival in Edgartown, Mass., as the Obama family begins their vacation in Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A US Marine Corps Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey helicopter is seen in flight at sunset in this aerial photograph near Washington, DC, January 15, 2015, in support of a visit by US President Barack Obama to Baltimore, Maryland. The V-22 is a unique aircraft that allows vertical takeoff and landings while flying like a traditional airplane. AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

A US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey carrying White House staff, seen through the cockpit of another Osprey, as it comes in for a landing at an airfield in Edgartown, Massachusetts, August 10, 2013. Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys, aircraft that take off vertically, provided a dramatic new look for President Barack Obamas travel detail as he and the first lady began a Marthas Vineyard vacation. The Ospreys making their presidential debut - shuttled White House staff, media and Secret Service members from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. AFP PHOTO/Jim WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

 

[Major Shaitan Singh]

Marine Corps Osprey helicopter makes its approach before landing at the Wall Street heliport in New York, Tuesday, March 11, 2014. The tilt-rotor aircraft, can take off like a helicopter but fly like an airplane, provides transportation support for Presidential trips, helping shuttling members of the White House staff, media, and Secret Service. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Air Force One is seen on the tarmac in the distance as the osprey helicopter transporting media traveling with U.S. President Barack Obama approaches Munich Airport in southern Germany, Monday, June 8, 2015, after departing the G-7 summit in Schloss Elmau hotel near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany. The President is en route to Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A Marine Osprey flies past the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015, as part of a convoy carrying President Barack Obama from San Francisco to Palo Alto, Calif. for a summit on cybersecurity and consumer protection at Stanford University. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A U.S. Marine looks out the side window of an MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft from Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 (HMX-1) during a flight from the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., July 29, 2014. The First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff of the British Royal Navy, Adm. Sir George Zambellas, not shown, was onboard as part of the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Counterpart Program, which invites foreign military leaders to visit the United States and interact with U.S. military leaders. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael C. Guinto/Released)

A member of the White House staff walks to an Osprey aircraft at Fresno Yosemite International Airport February 14, 2014 in Fresno, California. Obama is visiting the Fresno area where he will speak with members of the community and tour drought effected areas. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

A U.S. Marine looks out the side window of an MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft from Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 (HMX-1) during a flight from the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., July 29, 2014. The First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff of the British Royal Navy, Adm. Sir George Zambellas, not shown, was onboard as part of the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Counterpart Program, which invites foreign military leaders to visit the United States and interact with U.S. military leaders. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael C. Guinto/Released)