SwiftVets.com

[Mary Ann Parker]

Bush's National Guard Years

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I post this in behalf of Bill and several other Vets. I am sure it appears elsewhere, however, today has it as a hot topic again!
Is this summary definitive??

Mary Ann Parker

Bush's National Guard years
here are the facts:

What do you really know about George W. Bush's time in the Air
National Guard?
That he didn't show up for duty in Alabama? That he missed a physical?
That his daddy got him in?

News coverage of the president's years in the Guard has tended to
focus on one brief portion of that time - to the exclusion of virtually
everything else.

So just for the record, here, in full, is what Bush did:

The future president joined the Guard in May 1968. Almost immediately,
he began an extended period of training. Six weeks of basic training.
Fifty-three weeks of flight training. Twenty-one weeks of
fighter-interc! eptor training.

That was 80 weeks to begin with, and there were other training periods
thrown in as well. It was full-time work. By the time it was over, Bush had
served nearly two years.

Not two years of weekends. Two years.

After training, Bush kept flying, racking up hundreds of hours in
F-102 jets. As he did, he accumulated points toward his National Guard
service requirements. At the time, guardsmen were required to accumulate a
minimum of 50 points to meet their yearly obligation.

According to records released earlier this year, Bush earned 253
points in his first year, May 1968 to May 1969 (since he joined in May 1968,
his service thereafter was measured on a May-to-May basis).

Bush earned 340 points in 1969-1970. He earned 137 points in
1970-1971. ! And he earned 112 points in 1971-1972. The numbers indicate that
i n his first four years, Bush not only showed up, he showed up a lot. Did
you know that?

That brings the story to May 1972 - the time that has been the focus
of so many news reports - when Bush "deserted" (according to anti-Bush
filmmaker Michael Moore) or went "AWOL" (according to Terry McAuliffe,
chairman of the Democratic National Committee).

Bush asked for permission to go to Alabama to work on a Senate
campaign. His superior officers said OK. Requests like that weren't unusual,
says retired Col. William Campenni, who flew with Bush in 1970 and 1971.

"In 1972, there was an enormous glut of pilots," Campenni says. "The
Vietnam War was winding down, and the Air Force was putting pilots in desk
jobs. In '72 or '73, if you were a pilot, active or Guard, and you had an
obligation and wanted to get out, no problem. In fact, you we! re helping them
solve their problem."

So Bush stopped flying. From May 1972 to May 1973, he earned just 56
points - not much, but enough to meet his requirement.

Then, in 1973, as Bush made plans to leave the Guard and go to Harvard
Business School, he again started showing up frequently.

In June and July of 1973, he accumulated 56 points, enough to meet the
minimum requirement for the 1973-1974 year.

Then, at his request, he was given permission to go. Bush received an
honorable discharge after serving five years, four months and five days of
his original six-year commitment. By that time, however, he had accumulated
enough points in each year to cover six years of service.

During his service, Bush received high marks as a pilot.

&nbs! p; A 1970 evaluation said Bush "clearly stands out as a top notc h fighter
interceptor pilot" and was "a natural leader whom his contemporaries look to
for leadership."

A 1971 evaluation called Bush "an exceptionally fine young officer and
pilot" who "continually flies intercept missions with the unit to increase
his proficiency even further." And a 1972 evaluation called Bush "an
exceptional fighter interceptor pilot and officer."
Now, it is only natural that news reports questioning Bush's service -
in The Boston Globe and The New York Times, on CBS and in other outlets -
would come out now. Democrats are spitting mad over attacks on John Kerry's
record by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

And, as it is with Kerry, it's reasonable to look at a candidate's
entire record, including his military service - or lack of it. Voters are
perfectly able to decide whether it's important or ! not in November.

The Kerry camp blames Bush for the Swift boat veterans' attack, but
anyone who has spent much time talking to the Swifties gets the sense that
they are doing it entirely for their own reasons.

And it should be noted in passing that Kerry has personally questioned
Bush's service, while Bush has not personally questioned Kerry's.

In April - before the Swift boat veterans had said a word - Kerry said
Bush "has yet to explain to America whether or not, and tell the truth,
about whether he showed up for duty." Earlier, Kerry said, "Just because you
get an honorable discharge does not, in fact, answer that question."

Now, after the Swift boat episode, the spotlight has returned to Bush.

That's fine. We should know as much as we can.

&! nbsp; And perhaps someday Kerry will release more of his m ilitary records as
well.

[b]
Byron York is a White House correspondent for National Review. His
column appears in The Hill each week. E-mail: byork@thehill.com

[margie]

Thank you very much for that summery of GWB service. If 50 pts per year were needed he did more than was needed to get his honorable discharge! The real fact that matters is that he also has 3 yrs8 mo as Commander in Chief, and has done an honorable job.

[Misty]

The people who need to read this do not want to see it. These issues have been cleared up and should satisfy the opposition, but they won't.

Now the opposition keeps trumpeting the lie that he had unfair access and skipped his medical exam. Total bs.
_________________
Misty
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Dad was in the Navy Pacific Fleet
Brother was on the USS Regulus - Vietnam
Husband was AirForce 3rd (34th) Tactical Fighter Wing - Security Police Bien Hoa Vietnam

[Sun Tzu]

Facts about Bush's guard service:

1. F-102 squadrons had been stationed in Vietnam since March of 1962.

2. The 147th Fighter Interceptor Group were conducting missions in Vietnam at the time Bush enlisted.

3. Though there was a waiting list for various other positions within the
National Guard...there was not a waiting list to become an aviator within the Air Texas National Guard. The 147th Fighter Interceptor Group, based in Houston, Texas, had 156 openings among its authorized staff of 925 military personnel. Source: Tom Hail, Texas Air National Guard Historian.

4. Bush took his AFOQT while still attending Yale. Source: Col. Earl Lively, Director of Air National Guard operations for the state headquarters.

5. Bush requested to take part in the Vietnam "Palace Alert" program but was turned down by Major Maurice Udell because he didn't have enough flight hours. Source(s): Fred Bradley, Texas Air National guard pilot; Albert C. Lloyd, Head of Personnel, Texas Air National Guard.

6. Bush's Guard record:

The Guard required 50 points to satisfy the annual requirement.

Bush's service was measured on a May-to-May basis because he first joined the Guard in May of 1968.


First year -- 253

Second year -- 340

Third year -- 137

Fourth year -- 112

Fifth year (May 1972 to May 1973) -- 56

Sixth year (June and July of 1973) -- 56

"It clearly shows that First Lieutenant George W. Bush has satisfactory years for both '72-'73 and '73-'74, which proves that he completed his military obligation in a satisfactory manner..." Source: Albert C. Lloyd, Head of Personnel, Texas Air National Guard.

7. Bush was discharged honorably after having served five years, four months, and five days of his original six-year commitment.



Source(s):

Dallas Morning News; July 4, 1999; Author(s) Pete Slover, George Kuempel

National Review Online; August 26, 2004; Author(s) Byron York

Fox and Friends; September 13, 2004; Fox News


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"Some who served in the National Guard say it is common practice to miss drills — even up to six months — because of job conflicts, family problems or illness.

Ralph Bradley, 56, a Republican from Albany who served three years in Vietnam in the Air Force and 17 years in the Georgia Army National Guard, said members are encouraged to make up drills so they don't lose pay or retirement benefits.

"There's all kinds of situations ... that cause a person to go out of state for a period of time," he said."

"A lot of guys don't serve for four or five months at a time," he said. "They've got other stuff going on. They'll make it up later on, or they just won't get paid. That's really no big deal to a lot of National Guard soldiers." Army Reserve Sgt. Tim Wilding


Source(s): "U.S. Servicemen React to Bush Guard Memos", September 12, 2004, Elliot Minor -- Associated Press
_________________
"Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it." - Mark Twain

[Misty]

Have you sent that to Drudge? We have to get more of this information out.

In spite of the hundreds of pages of Bush documents available, when you try to find them on the net you are referred to pages that have a very selective portion. The public is being duped.
_________________
Misty
----------
Dad was in the Navy Pacific Fleet
Brother was on the USS Regulus - Vietnam
Husband was AirForce 3rd (34th) Tactical Fighter Wing - Security Police Bien Hoa Vietnam