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One of the most secure military facilities in the country, where Air Force One is housed, has been penetrated once more, and this time a resident fired on the intruder, according to a statement released by Joint Base Andrews late Monday.
“A man gained unauthorized access to a JBA housing area.” The incident happened at around 11:30 a.m. Monday, according to Joint Base Andrews in a statement shared on Twitter. Also, the statement said that “a resident discharged a firearm, security forces arrived on scene to apprehend the intruder and law enforcement is investigating the incident.”
The fleet of blue and white presidential planes, which includes Air Force One and the “doomsday” 747 plane that can act as the country’s airborne nuclear command and control centers if necessary, is based at Joint Base Andrews.
After Andrews’ announcement on the intrusion on Monday, the Air Force stated late Monday that it had nothing else to offer.
As clarified before, it’s not the first time the base’s security has been compromised; in February 2021, a man entered the installation through a military checkpoint, passed through more fenced-in areas to gain access to the flight line, and boarded a C-40, the military’s equivalent to the 737 used to transport officials.
That burglar was caught after an alert airman noticed something peculiar about the “mouse ears” headgear he was sporting.
An inspector general’s probe uncovered three key security lapses, beginning with “human error” on the part of a gate security officer who let the guy to drive into the site despite the fact that he did not have the necessary credentials to gain entrance. A few hours later, the guy slipped past a barrier meant to prevent entrance and strolled silently onto the flight line. Finally, again despite not having the proper badge to enter the restricted area, he was allowed to enter and exit a parked airplane without being stopped.
