On February 17, 1974, U.S. Army Private Robert K. Preston took off in a stolen Bell UH-1B Iroquois "Huey" helicopter from Tipton Field, Maryland, and landed it on the South Lawn of the White House in a major breach of security. Preston had enlisted in the Army to become a helicopter pilot, but he did not graduate from the helicopter training course and lost his opportunity to attain the rank of warrant officer pilot. He was bound by his enlistment to serve four years in the Army, and he was sent to Fort Meade as a helicopter mechanic.