Andrews Suspends Trusted Traveler Program as OSI Investigates Breach

Joint Base Andrews, Md., is clamping down on base access following a Feb. 4 installation breach, a JBA spokesperson confirmed to Air Force Magazine on Feb. 5.

“An unauthorized individual gained access to” the installation, prompting an investigation being led by the Department of the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson deferred all further questions about the incident to OSI. Base officials did not say how the individual accessed the base or whether the person was detained. 

OSI didn’t reply to a query from the magazine by press time.

The intrusion also led the base to temporarily suspend its Trusted Traveler Program, the spokesperson confirmed to Air Force Magazine on Feb. 5. 

The program, implemented by JBA in 2015, allowed “valid [Common Access Card] cardholders with escort authority to vouch for” up to 10 people riding in the same vehicle with them without having to get them pre-cleared by the 11th Security Support Squadron Visitor Control Center at Andrews, an 11th Wing release explained

Its suspension means visitors will have to be pre-announced—and pre-approved—for a base visit at least 72 hours before a planned trip to Andrews. And even after they get the all-clear to visit the installation, they’ll still need to present valid state identification to be let inside its gates, according to the release.

The base first announced the suspension in a Facebook post published late on Feb. 4 that didn’t offer an explanation for the move.

Andrews is home to the 89th Airlift Wing, the Air Mobility Command wing charged with ferrying the “President, vice president, cabinet members, combatant commanders, and other senior military and elected leaders,” the installation’s website states.

The wing operates VC-25A (including Air Force One), C-32A, C-37A, C-37B, and C-40B aircraft.

President Joe Biden and his family landed at Andrews the day before his Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony in Washington. 

Andrews also houses the 316th Wing, which provides quick-response rotary assets to back up “contingency operations” in the National Capitol Region, safeguards the Andrews flight line, and handles “ceremonial support with the United States Air Force Arlington Chaplaincy,” the website explains.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Feb. 5 at 8:07 a.m. EST with new information from Joint Base Andrews, and at 9:56 a.m. EST to reflect the Department of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations’ renaming.