ABOARD A U.S. AIR FORCE E4-B (CNN) -- The view from the cockpit is amazing. As we cruise along somewhere over the Pacific, clouds whiz by at more than 500 miles per hour.

I'm traveling with U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen on his nine-day trip to Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Two aerial refuelings are needed to make the roughly 9,000-mile trip to Australia -- one about three hours out over Arizona and the second about 12 hours out over Hawaii

An Air Force pilot has taken manual control of this jumbo jet and is trying to hold it steady, as it's buffeted by bumpy air and the wake of a plane just ahead of and above it.

The KC-10 refueling jet slowly descends into view, its long probe extended like the stinger of an angry insect.

A mid-air mating ritual follows that leaves us with enough fuel to finish our non-stop 19-hour, 40-minute, roughly 9,000-mile flight from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington to the Quantas Jet Base, Kingsford-Smith Airport in Sydney.

When the gleaming blue-and-white 747 arrives at its destination to the blare of a military band, it conveys the impression that top U.S. officials travel in style and luxury.

The plane serves as Cohen's Pentagon-in-the-sky

But this military jet is no commercial airliner. The first clue is the unusual bump on top of its fuselage, behind the cockpit, which accommodates the special communications equipment jammed inside.

There are no wide, reclining seats, no in-flight movies, no duty-free shopping.

The plane that serves as Cohen's Pentagon-in-the-sky was designed as an airborne command post.

The secretary does enjoy a spacious cabin in the nose, with a set of bunk-beds, and a table and two chairs. But the rest of the plane is built more for work.

Communications consoles and stiff-backed seats fill the windowless center cabin. There, Cohen's staff follows essentially the same work routine they do at the Pentagon, with one difference.

Just a few feet in front of them sit the traveling news media, within earshot and eyeshot of classified documents and briefing books.