Originally posted by: Bowfinger
Originally posted by: CaptainGoodnight
And the sad thing is most of whats in this article has already been refuted in THIS thread.
NOT. Even. Close.
This whole circus about the authenticity of those three documents was staged to draw attention from the underlying,
unrefuted facts:
- Bush pulled strings to dodge Vietnam service
- We blew $1 million training him
- He was grounded for reasons never really explained (though there is substantial indirect evidence it was due to increasingly poor performance and his drug use)
- Bush eventually abandoned his cushy Guard responsibilities, presumably because they were just too darn inconvenient for his self-indulgent lifestyle.
To suggest this has all been refuted is wishful thinking. The only reason Bush got out with an "honorable" discharge is his political connections.
"Bush pulled strings to dodge Vietnam service"
No one has ever been able to prove that.
"We blew $1 million training him"
How did we blow "$1 million" on training him? He had 337 hours of flight time, which is alot for a fighter pliot. One of the reasons he got an early out is because he fulfilled all his flying requirements in less then 6 years.
"He was grounded for reasons never really explained (though there is substantial indirect evidence it was due to increasingly poor performance and his drug use)"
He was never "grounded"
Last time Bush flew, as records show, was April of 1972. He was "suspended" in September of 1972. The physical is only mandatory if your going to fly. No big deal really. If they needed him to fly, he would just have to requalify and take the medical exam. The physical has to be done by a Flight Surgeon. A regular doctor won't do. Then there is the added problem of being in the Guard. Flight Surgeons aren't always available. Maybe once a month to give physicals. Why go though all the trouble if your on non-flight status?
About the "mandatory drug test". The Air Force did not have "mandatory drug tests" until the 1980s, before that I believe only those under the age of 23 were tested. Bush was too old to be tested. I confirmed this other people who served in the USAF durning that time. (I served much later)
"Bush eventually abandoned his cushy Guard responsibilities, presumably because they were just too darn inconvenient for his self-indulgent lifestyle."
If you check the 111th FIS records of 1970-72 and any other ANG squadron, you will find other pilots excused for career obligations and conflicts. The Bush excusal in 1972 was further facilitated by a change in the unit's mission, from an operational fighter squadron to a training squadron with a new airplane, the F-101, which required that more pilots be available for full-time instructor duty rather than part-time traditional reservists with outside employment.
The winding down of the Vietnam War in 1971 provided a flood of exiting active-duty pilots for these instructor jobs, making part-timers like Lt. Bush and me somewhat superfluous. There was a huge glut of pilots in the Air Force in 1972, and with no cockpits available to put them in, many were shoved into nonflying desk jobs.
Bush has nothing to be ashamed of in his military service.