by Dan Bongino
The crime problem became evident within a few days when a Miami agent on a temporary assignment to assist us reported over the radio that a man was beating his girlfriend in front of Jenna’s apartment and had pulled a knife. These occurrences were not uncommon on the block where the apartment was located, but they decreased dramatically in frequency as the locals figured out who we were and why we were there. The street-crime situation in other areas of Argentina, however, was about to become an embarrassment to the Secret Service when Jenna’s sister, Barbara, decided to visit and we became the story.
Despite the enhanced security due to both of the president’s daughters being in the country, while having coffee at an outdoor café on her first day in Buenos Aires, Barbara’s purse was stolen, ostensibly off the back of her chair. I was working with Jenna, not Barbara, on the day this occurred, but I was not far from the scene and neither I nor any of the other agents recalled seeing anything unusual. Our security operation is focused strictly on proctectees, not their property, and when Barbara reported that she was missing her purse we speculated that she may have walked away from it and while our attention was on her rather than her bag, someone grabbed it.
Regardless of what really happened, the result was a media disaster that reflected poorly on the Secret Service. Management struggled with the media to explain the incident, which left me extremely frustrated. Our mission was clear, and it did not involve looking after property, only people. I had followed Jenna across the United States on the road trip, to Panama and back, and now to Argentina, and we ensured she was secure and the trips went without incident. This incident devalued that success and all of the sacrifice and hard work that went into it. I learned that when it involves public figures and politicians, quiet successes are irrelevant while perceived public failures, no matter how insignificant, are defining. The incident was further compounded when another Miami field office agent assisting us in country, despite multiple warnings not to venture out alone while off duty, did so and was assaulted, robbed, and left in the street. Combined with the stolen purse story, the media narrative was brutal. Morale within the detail was damaged, but we gave our hearts and souls to the mission and we were not going to allow it to be diminished by anyone.
The adventures with Jenna Bush continued as we traveled through South America and beyond. The first daughter was scheduled for a short trip to Kingston, Jamaica, where we were to meet with ABC’s Diane Sawyer to film a profile on Jenna and discuss her upcoming book. During filming, Diane and Jenna wanted to do a shot where they were walking in an alleyway in inner Kingston. We had to secure the area while they talked and the camera crew filmed. It was not long before the area became crowded with locals, both curious and dangerous.
At that time, Kingston was the homicide capital of the world, and we were not about to contribute to that notorious statistic. Still, the security situation deteriorated quickly. Some of the locals clearly had weapons, and we were quickly being surrounded at the end of the alley with only one exit. We made the quick decision to immediately end the interview and, with weapons drawn, hurried Jenna and Diane to an armored SUV we had waiting for us.
Amazingly, the ABC camera crew appeared entirely unmoved by what had just occurred. One of the cameramen I spoke to about the incident later that night explained to me that he was in Somalia in the days immediately prior to the Blackhawk Down incident and learned to just keep filming no matter what. I was impressed by his resolve. When the footage aired as part of an ABC 20/20 series months later, the tension among the agents and fear of failing in our mission to keep our protectee safe was obvious.
As my time on Jenna’s detail came to a close, I was asked to think about which assignment I wanted next. As part of the PPD career track, the next phase would be one of three separate “satellites,” as they were called within the detail. My choices were the first lady’s protection detail, the transportation section, or the countersurveillance team. While each assignment had its advantages and disadvantages, it was widely known that the transportation section had the broadest set of responsibilities and required logistics capabilities that would be valuable in any future Secret Service assignment. I was hesitant at first to request the assignment and initially considered the first lady’s detail, but after the purse snatching episode, dengue fever, and the near-death experience in Kingston, I felt it was time to move on to the next phase. I joined the transportation section, eager to start fresh.
10
TRANSPORTATION: IT’S NOT SIMPLY ABOUT MOTORCADES
THE TRANSPORTATION SECTION was a significant change in operational tempo from Jenna’s detail. Our accumulating successes went largely unnoticed but our failures became perpetual fodder, largely for agents of the more glamorous first lady’s detail. For this reason the transportation section tended to attract the type A personalities who preferred a high-risk/no-reward work environment. It was common knowledge that despite the incredible amount of work designing safe and efficient motorcade routes, we were rarely thanked for getting the president from point A to point B. Additionally, driving the president’s limousine is one of the most stressful assignments in the detail. The media commonly referred to the limo as “the Beast,” although the agents of the transportation section never use this ridiculous term and can distinguish media representatives “in the know” from those looking to appear as if they are, simply by whether or not they use that term.
While navigating an unwieldy armored limousine, the agent driving must be ready at any moment to take one of the alternate motorcade routes and know all the relocation points and safe zones, all while attempting to avoid rear-ending the car in front of him and subsequently having to answer questions from the detail supervisor and the president. Although frequently an error-free exercise, hiccups are not uncommon, and with the White House press corps always in tow, they are always on tape for the world to see. Some of the more famous footage, immortalized on YouTube, includes one of our presidential limos stalling on a street in Italy filled with enormous crowds, and one of the limos striking a security gate that failed to lower in Ireland and subsequently stranding the entire motorcade behind it.
Despite thousands of uneventful motorcades due to the preparation and dedication of the men and women of the transportation section, these very public failures have become cautionary tales for new agents. Secret Service headquarters fears public embarrassment even if the actual security ramifications are minimal, and with a minimal public relations machine (unlike the FBI, who have greater manpower and therefore greater ability to handle public relations), they frequently make an example of agents whom they deem responsible for high-profile failures. This would come to haunt any agent associated with the devastating Colombian prostitution scandal of 2012.
With the consequences of failure always weighing heavily on my mind, I dedicated myself entirely to learning the detailed nuances of conducting transportation advances for the president. As with everything else on the PPD, the transportation section brought their agents along slowly and gave the newer agents the easier assignments first. They also ensured that a more experienced agent from the section guided the newer agents through the elaborate planning process.
My first advance was what we called an “in-town.” This was the term used to describe a motorcade strictly within the borders of Washington, DC, and although the planning was intense, the trips were easier logistically and were typically the first assignments for newer agents. In-towns were typically conducted with both Secret Service personnel and law-enforcement agencies who were intimately familiar with the operational requirements of the PPD and could handle the task without much coaching. Although my first trip was an in-town, it was a long trip to Walter Reed Hospital. The route to the hospital was just within the parameters for driving rather than taking the presidential helicopter, Marine One, and was going to require enormous numbers of police personnel to ensure a safe and secure route.
In preparation, I drove the planned motorcade route tireless
ly, familiarizing myself with every nook and crevice on the road and in the surrounding areas. After spending days in the planning phase preparing for contingencies, I was anxious for “game day,” a term Secret Service agents use to describe the day of the presidential visit. I immediately sensed a problem when I walked out of the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room and didn’t recognize the police officer assigned to drive the lead police vehicle. My concerns were confirmed when only a few minutes into the twenty-minute trip, he picked up a paper copy of the route from the console, jammed it against the steering wheel, and begin to feverishly flip through the pages. I immediately recognized that he did not know the route and I told him to put the paperwork down and that I would guide him. The feeling of profound relief when we arrived at Walter Reed was unforgettable, and I was quietly thankful that I had driven the route often enough to navigate it practically blindfolded. During the advance I was assisted by Tim, my coworker and friend from the training center, who had arrived in the transportation section a few weeks before I did and was still calling me “Big City.” Tim was a fast learner and had cautioned me not to rely on anyone else to know the motorcade route, which obviously paid dividends on this particular trip.
After successfully planning and implementing the Walter Reed Hospital in-town visit, I was given my first out-of-town assignment to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The logistics of the trip would be made easier given the short distance from the Washington metropolitan area. Visits in proximity to the Washington, DC, area, such as this one, enabled us to drive to the locations using Secret Service vehicles and eliminated the hassle of flying and renting vehicles.
We left Washington and arrived in Lancaster just a few hours later, checked into the hotel, and prepared to work. The first step in any visit outside of Washington is the police meeting, a gathering of all the police agencies and emergency personnel in the area, where all the agents (including the transportation agent) provide detailed briefings on what exactly we do and what we need from them. This was the first police meeting where I was going to be presenting material and, while sitting in the room waiting for the meeting to begin, I recalled my first police meeting while assigned to the Melville office. Scott from the Hillary Clinton detail had presented a polished and professional brief that garnered him instant respect from the police officials, and the memory of it weighed heavily on me. I rehearsed my presentation quietly to ensure smooth recollection of the material, and when it was my turn I took the floor confidently.
After the meeting concluded, I met privately with select supervisory police personnel and the Secret Service lead advance and asked that they consider relaying to PPD operations that we use Marine One to fly rather than drive to the first Lancaster site on the schedule. I felt that a Marine One helicopter lift would ensure a minimal disruption of traffic patterns and allow President Bush to land right across the street from the plant we were visiting. My concerns were taken into account but I was told that due to logistics concerns we were going to have to use the armored vehicles to drive from the airport to the Lancaster site.
On the day of the visit, as we transported the president from the landing zone to the plant, I noticed traffic begin to back up quickly on the other side of the road. As the motorcade continued on, the traffic situation worsened significantly. We were all acutely aware that President Bush could see what we all could see, a traffic tie-up for miles, and the president always insisted on minimal disruptions to the citizens of the areas he chose to visit.
I was comfortable enough with the layered security plan to make some changes to allow some of the traffic to filter off the highway and, by the time we arrived at the plant, I was changing our route for the return trip to ensure we avoided the traffic problem on the way back. I had planned for a number of alternate routes and although moving the police personnel and security measures along the route was difficult, within a few minutes I had the process on the path to completion. The Pennsylvania State Police were frustrated at the changes but security is a complicated game, and after profuse apologies we had an uneventful and traffic-free return trip, sparing the president any bad press and me the voluminous paperwork explaining away why we shut down nearly a quarter of the town’s roads during rush hour.
The transportation section had a wide range of responsibilities in addition to its primary role of providing for secure motorcade routes. Some of my fondest memories on the PPD occurred while assigned to the transportation section but while involved in some of our additional responsibilities.
Unlike some of the other satellite details within the PPD, the agents of the transportation section are consistently working within the bubble surrounding the president. We had regular assignments at the White House, and we traveled on foreign presidential trips to provide logistics support, giving us an inside view to the presidency the public never sees, and some of which it does.
A few months in, I was given an assignment at the White House and was privileged to witness an event few see from the inside but many see from the outside. An Oval Office speech is an event typically reserved for only the most solemn of presidential addresses. It is a tool used sparingly and when it is used the magnificence of the office is meant to magnify and echo the message. Nearly everyone of my generation remembers Ronald Reagan’s Oval Office address after the space shuttle Challenger disaster. His moving speech served to comfort a grieving nation.
In September of 2007, I stood outside the thick white door to the Oval Office and watched as President George W. Bush spoke to the world from the iconic Oval Office desk, constructed of wood from the British exploration ship Resolute, about the War on Terror in Iraq. After working in the White House and for the Secret Service for close to a decade at this point, there were few events that really got my attention emotionally. But standing there, a city kid who grew up above a bar eating Cheerios for dinner, now looking directly at the president of the United States as he addressed hundreds of millions of people about a seminal event in our time, was an especially poignant moment in my life.
The stress of working in the transportation section is magnified during the end of a president’s second term. Presidents often conduct international “farewell tours” as their time in office comes to an end, and foreign trips are very labor-intensive from a security perspective. Collaboration and planning with foreign security, police, and military personnel is very different from planning a visit with state police or local emergency personnel in the United States. In some foreign countries, the standards and training levels for their personnel and readiness of their equipment are very different from the standards in the US. When conducting a security advance for the president in a foreign country, questions such as “Is this bridge structurally stable?” are not uncommon. It would be senseless to secure a motorcade route if the roads and infrastructure cannot handle the weight of the presidential limo and could potentially collapse when we drive over them. Driving in foreign countries can also be perilous due to the often chaotic, disorganized traffic patterns, something we are not accustomed to in the US.
Although we clear the roadways for the president, a number of events have happened behind the scenes that are less glamorous and create uniquely stressful situations. I vividly recall a January 2008 trip President George W. Bush took to the Middle East where I was relocated at the last minute to provide support in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. I had been in Kuwait transporting President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and General David Petraeus from Kuwait City to Camp Arifjan and immediately upon returning was told by our DC team to quickly fly to Abu Dhabi to provide assistance. They were short manpower and needed to immediately get the armored vehicles relocated to Dubai. Upon landing we sprinted to the vehicles and at maximum speed with a police escort, we drove the highways of the UAE, setting off nearly every speed camera from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. It looked like a red carpet with paparazzi camera flashes, but if those vehicles had failed to arrive in time the mission would have collapsed.
The many complications of foreign advance work were on my mind as I was sent overseas to conduct my first foreign transportation advance for First Lady Laura Bush in Petra, Jordan. My initial impression of the Jordanian security services was that they were experienced at threat assessment and were eager to help provide for a secure visit for the first lady. Their briefings were thorough and professional, and the trip was going to require the standard twelve- to sixteen-hour workdays, which were typical for a foreign advance, but I was eager to start and just as eager to see an area of the world considered an international treasure, the Lost City of Petra.
The Lost City of Petra was carved into the stone on the sides of deep cliffs in the Jordanian desert, and the detail in the enormous structures is mesmerizing. This remarkable achievement in preindustrial engineering was also made famous as the fictional Canyon of the Crescent Moon in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Clearance to negotiate our armored vehicles through the Siq, a long pathway cut deep through the cavern, was a point of serious contention for the Jordanians, who preferred that no vehicles be allowed on this hallowed ground. But with the elevated threat level on the visit, I could not allow the first lady to walk such a distance without access to an armored means of evacuation. The threat of a coordinated assault on the motorcade on the razor-thin roads of Petra by regional extremists was very real on this trip.
The Jordanians agreed to provide heavy weapons, loaded on the backs of armored SUVs, as a readily visible deterrent, but these were deemed unacceptable by the White House staff back in the US. Photographs of belt-fed weapons on the first lady’s motorcade don’t make for positive political images in the American media. Given the extraordinary threat levels, I insisted on having enough firepower to counter any potential small arms attack, and after some labored negotiating with the staff, they complied.