Shown at Andrews Air Force Base with a C37B are (L-R) Cdr. Broc Chambers, CO Cdr. Larry Artman, Asst. Dir. Mobilization Reserve Affairs Cdr. Rob Lee, Lt. Col. Marc Sehrt, Safety Officer Maj. Ron Wood and Gulfstream USN C37 Site Mgr. Sean Strudgeon. Established on May 1, 1997, Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 1 (VR1) operates as part of the Fleet Logistics Support Wing and the Naval Air Force Reserve. The primary mission of VR1 "Star Lifters" is to provide safe, secure, connected, reliable and effective on-demand worldwide air transportation for Department of the Navy senior civilian and military leadership.

Squadron missions are considered an essential element of US national security strategy and execute under stringent schedule and protocol requirements as well as intense media scrutiny. Operations and communications security are paramount, as are physical security and adherence to the highest standards of professionalism. VR1 is an elite unit.

It serves seven primary customers the Secretary of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Com- mandant of the Marine Corps (CMC), Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, Commander US Fleet Forces Command and Dir Naval Nuclear Propulsion. The squadron is certified to transport personnel up to, and including, the Vice President of the United States.

It supports Department of Defense tasking and has provided air transportation to Congressional delegations, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and various combatant commanders. VR1 carries foreign counterparts of the CNO and CMC as directed, and has recently flown distinguished personnel including former President and Mrs. George H. W. Bush.

In other cases, VR1 can go from mission request to launch in as little as four hours, as for example when VR1 transported Navy divers and their gear to assist in recovery efforts following the Aug 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse. Last summer, VR1 transitioned from an inhouse trip planning system to Jeppesen Dispatch Service.

Sehrt describes the move as an easy one and says that it has not only reduced workloads for the operations department and for the pilots, but accelerated the decision making process. "Jeppesen is familiar with the military and what our needs are," he says.

The company has provided first-class support, adds Sehrt, who describes the transition to Jeppesen Direct as "wonderful." Cdr. Broc Chambers (USN) is the current XO. Like Artman, he was commissioned in 1990 and became a naval aviator in 1992.

Commander Chambers has 4600 hours TT, all fixed-wing (spread fairly evenly between the Beechcraft T34C, Boeing C40, Douglas DC9 and Lockheed P3). As XO, Chambers personally screens each pilot (checking fitness reports and flying competence, interviewing current and former COs) before issuing a green light for transfer orders to VR1.

An experienced multiplatform instructor pilot, Chambers was the Fleet evaluator and model manager for the C40. He served in the Pentagon as transport aircraft requirements officer for the Director Air Warfare before joining VR1 in July 2008.

Broc is the son of Carlton and Peggy Chambers of Colquitt. He is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Brooks Sheffield of Colquitt and the brother of Carla Chambers Smith of Bainbridge.

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