Mr. Speaker !!! The President, of the United States

Devil Doc

Devil Doc

Teufel Doc
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I plagiarized part of this from my post three years ago. I was there 23 years ago. Surely you all know this but I'll post anyway. The president's address to congress is a constitutional requirement. The first address of his term is known as addressing a joint session of congress. The years after it is called the state of the union address. I was the senior corpsman and senior navy enlisted at CBIRF and we set up in DC for the inaugural of Bush-43 and five weeks later for his address to the joint session. The USS Cole was bombed in Yemen the previous October and we were hearing chatter (I heard that term on TV and in the movies) and getting intel of an increased interest in an attack on US soil. The security was so tight in and approaching DC they almost didn't let us in. Depending on the operation or exercise, I would either ride in one of the command vehicles (Dodge Durango) or trucks. The unit's gear was transported in white box trucks and white vans so as not to freak out everybody when we roll into town. It took awhile to get past the cars on the Douglas bridge but we got to the east side of the capitol and they were confused by our appearance and trucks. My driver and I were in blue hoodies and blue sweat pants sitting in a delivery truck. We got parked and I would eventually put on my MOPP suit and go inside the building with two Marines in Level A suits. We were there for one person. Everybody else in the House chamber would have to be dragged out for decontamination and treatment. Fortunately we weren't hit with a chem/bio/rad agent and got back to plan our next fun outing.

history.house.gov

State of the Union Address | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives

Including President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.'s 2024 address, there have been a total of 100 in-person Annual Messages/State of the Union Addresses. Since President Woodrow Wilson resumed the delivery of in-person addresses in 1913, there have been a total of 88 in-person addresses. In 1945...
history.house.gov history.house.gov

sotu.jpg
 
Devil Doc said:
I plagiarized part of this from my post three years ago. I was there 23 years ago. Surely you all know this but I'll post anyway. The president's address to congress is a constitutional requirement. The first address of his term is known as addressing a joint session of congress. The years after it is called the state of the union address. I was the senior corpsman and senior navy enlisted at CBIRF and we set up in DC for the inaugural of Bush-43 and five weeks later for his address to the joint session. The USS Cole was bombed in Yemen the previous October and we were hearing chatter (I heard that term on TV and in the movies) and getting intel of an increased interest in an attack on US soil. The security was so tight in and approaching DC they almost didn't let us in. Depending on the operation or exercise, I would either ride in one of the command vehicles (Dodge Durango) or trucks. The unit's gear was transported in white box trucks and white vans so as not to freak out everybody when we roll into town. It took awhile to get past the cars on the Douglas bridge but we got to the east side of the capitol and they were confused by our appearance and trucks. My driver and I were in blue hoodies and blue sweat pants sitting in a delivery truck. We got parked and I would eventually put on my MOPP suit and go inside the building with two Marines in Level A suits. We were there for one person. Everybody else in the House chamber would have to be dragged out for decontamination and treatment. Fortunately we weren't hit with a chem/bio/rad agent and got back to plan our next fun outing.

history.house.gov

State of the Union Address | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives

Including President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.'s 2024 address, there have been a total of 100 in-person Annual Messages/State of the Union Addresses. Since President Woodrow Wilson resumed the delivery of in-person addresses in 1913, there have been a total of 88 in-person addresses. In 1945...
history.house.gov history.house.gov

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Very interesting! Thank you for both your personal information and for the history lesson!
 
Devil Doc said:
I plagiarized part of this from my post three years ago. I was there 23 years ago. Surely you all know this but I'll post anyway. The president's address to congress is a constitutional requirement. The first address of his term is known as addressing a joint session of congress. The years after it is called the state of the union address. I was the senior corpsman and senior navy enlisted at CBIRF and we set up in DC for the inaugural of Bush-43 and five weeks later for his address to the joint session. The USS Cole was bombed in Yemen the previous October and we were hearing chatter (I heard that term on TV and in the movies) and getting intel of an increased interest in an attack on US soil. The security was so tight in and approaching DC they almost didn't let us in. Depending on the operation or exercise, I would either ride in one of the command vehicles (Dodge Durango) or trucks. The unit's gear was transported in white box trucks and white vans so as not to freak out everybody when we roll into town. It took awhile to get past the cars on the Douglas bridge but we got to the east side of the capitol and they were confused by our appearance and trucks. My driver and I were in blue hoodies and blue sweat pants sitting in a delivery truck. We got parked and I would eventually put on my MOPP suit and go inside the building with two Marines in Level A suits. We were there for one person. Everybody else in the House chamber would have to be dragged out for decontamination and treatment. Fortunately we weren't hit with a chem/bio/rad agent and got back to plan our next fun outing.

history.house.gov

State of the Union Address | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives

Including President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.'s 2024 address, there have been a total of 100 in-person Annual Messages/State of the Union Addresses. Since President Woodrow Wilson resumed the delivery of in-person addresses in 1913, there have been a total of 88 in-person addresses. In 1945...
history.house.gov history.house.gov

View attachment 15545
Click to expand...
Greatly enjoyed reading the meaningful history lesson ... but what is the "translation" for following abbreviations? CBIRF and MOPP.
 
Sort of related to this so I throw it in here. I found out that my oldest offspring was flying ONE CAP over DC the other evening during the state of the union address. I don’t know what he is doing most of the time but he mentioned it in a conversation. Pretty cool to know.
 
What a great story, @Devil Doc. Those days following 9/11 were very different, and I wonder how much of those precautions has carried over to this day.

A bit morbid but true: Whenever the President departs or arrives at the South Lawn via Marine One, the White House press corps is escorted out and lined up just by the South Portico. They stand near a mini control center that's manned by a small military contingent -- part of WHCA, the White House Communications Agency, which serves as a kind of traffic control for Marine One. Ostensibly the press corps is there to shout questions to the President, who may or may not stop to answer. It's also a familiar photo opp. It's also, among the press corps and WH staff, referred to quietly as the "death watch." As in, "Let's make sure we're out there in case anything happens to Marine One." The cameras roll continuously as long as Marine One is in sight.

I was on the WH staff of the first President Bush. I was a political appointee in a relatively minor role. But it was part of my job to call and then escort the press corps for those fairly regular "death watches." Fortunately, those episodes were without tragedy -- just simple yet grand entrances and exits with a majestic helicopter in the background.
 
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I'm kind of obsessed with presidential transportation among other things associated with the presidency.

I lived closer to DC during Bush 43 when his press secretary died of colon cancer. I was in the front yard when his motorcade drove past. I hollered for my daughter who was home from college to come out. I was at my curb and saw Mr. President get out of the beast and go up the sidewalk to pay his respects to Jill and the kids. He stayed several minutes and the Air Force officer carrying the football got out to chat with agents. I had seen a few motorcades while stationed in DC and looked to see if the agents in all black with rifles would get out due to the heat of the day. If they were there they didn't get out. The people in the black vans with all the antennae stayed inside. I'm sure the AC works good in those things. The motorcycle cops who led the line of vehicles and took up the rear blocked all access to the neighborhood. My son called wondering what was going on.

My daughter lives next to a secret service agent. If I told you more he would kill me.

The presidential white tops, VH-3s, fly past my house all the time. There are something like 20-plus of them. Used to be anyway.

While stationed at BUMED (when it was in Foggy Bottom) I got interviewed for the Navy's contribution to the advanced medical enlisted billet. Can't remember if that's the official billet name at this point. I went to the EEOB, Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and met with the Physician to the President. That is an official title and I happen to know the current one but it is related to my current job.

To answer @MidCakePa I'm sure the appropriate units have tweaked and improved upon their planning, pre-staging, and contingencies but I've lost touch with all but one person in the operational forces. I did however meet a high ranking appointee who (I won't give her title) is in charge of global health and biosafety. She has promised to come in as a guest speaker.
 
Devil Doc said:
I'm kind of obsessed with presidential transportation among other things associated with the presidency.

I lived closer to DC during Bush 43 when his press secretary died of colon cancer. I was in the front yard when his motorcade drove past. I hollered for my daughter who was home from college to come out. I was at my curb and saw Mr. President get out of the beast and go up the sidewalk to pay his respects to Jill and the kids. He stayed several minutes and the Air Force officer carrying the football got out to chat with agents. I had seen a few motorcades while stationed in DC and looked to see if the agents in all black with rifles would get out due to the heat of the day. If they were there they didn't get out. The people in the black vans with all the antennae stayed inside. I'm sure the AC works good in those things. The motorcycle cops who led the line of vehicles and took up the rear blocked all access to the neighborhood. My son called wondering what was going on.

My daughter lives next to a secret service agent. If I told you more he would kill me.

The presidential white tops, VH-3s, fly past my house all the time. There are something like 20-plus of them. Used to be anyway.

While stationed at BUMED (when it was in Foggy Bottom) I got interviewed for the Navy's contribution to the advanced medical enlisted billet. Can't remember if that's the official billet name at this point. I went to the EEOB, Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and met with the Physician to the President. That is an official title and I happen to know the current one but it is related to my current job.

To answer @MidCakePa I'm sure the appropriate units have tweaked and improved upon their planning, pre-staging, and contingencies but I've lost touch with all but one person in the operational forces. I did however meet a high ranking appointee who (I won't give her title) is in charge of global health and biosafety. She has promised to come in as a guest speaker.
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Whoa 😳
 
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