RE: [OT] Bush Guard Service, The True Story

Great post!

v/r

Stephen S. Wolfe, GS-11, DAFC

Data Services Manager

stephen.wolfe@macdill.af.mil

(813) 827-9972 DSN 651-9972

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Bob Calco [mailto:bobcalco@alltel.net]

> Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 8:43 AM

> To: 'ProFox Email List'

> Subject: [OT] Bush Guard Service, The True Story

> http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=9259

> - - -

> This is the only place that you will get the full and true

> story of President Bush's Air National Guard service. There

> are no UNANSWERED questions. There are no missing records. He

> did not miss any meetings. The truth is known. You can find

> everything in this article, in other publications but none of

> the others are complete. You have to put them all together to

> get the full story. It is a shame that our national

> "objective" media refuse to do their job and put the whole

> story together.

> First, in answer to the charge that Bush was AWOL or

> missed meetings, George Bush was NEVER assigned to the

> Alabama Guard. This is a myth promoted by the "objective"

> media. Here is what really happened. Here is what the head of

> the Alabama Guard said.

> Turnipseed states Bush was never ordered to report to the

> Alabama Air National Guard. He points out that Bush never

> transferred from the Texas Air National Guard to the Alabama

> Air National Guard. He remained in the Texas Guard during his

> stay in Alabama. This was confirmed by the Texas Guard. And

> Turnipseed added that Bush was never under his command or any

> other officer in the Alabama Guard.

> Turnipseed added that Bush was informed of the drill schedule

> of the Alabama Guard as a courtesy so he could get credit for

> drills while in Alabama for his service record in the Texas

> Guard. There was no compulsory attendance. This was also

> confirmed by the Texas Guard.

> This was reported in the Chicago Sun-Times and has

> never been picked up by any other news organization.

> Turnipseed then also added.

> For Bush to be "AWOL" or "away without leave," he would

> have had to have been assigned to a unit and under its command.

> For the liberals reading this, go back and read it

> again. You see, Bush did NOT miss any meetings. The whole

> argument is nonsense. He got permission from his commanding

> officer to go to Alabama and attend meetings as a courtesy so

> he could attend when he could. Another part of this attack is

> that no one saw Bush at the meetings he did attend. It was

> reported that Turnipseed never saw Bush. Read what was

> reported about that.

> Turnipseed reversed gear after retired Lt. Col. John "Bill"

> Calhoun went public to say that not only did he remember Bush

> in Alabama, but that it was Turnipseed himself that

> introduced the two. Oops. And really...the media is

> completely asleep at the switch on this one. How many people

> that you saw a few times do you remember from 30 years ago?

> Why didn't fellow pilots see Bush in Alabama? The

> planes being flown by the Alabama Guard were not the same as

> the F102 that Bush was trained on. Why would pilots see him

> if he was not flying? That is why Lt. Col. Calhoun came

> forward to say that was Bush was in his office for study and

> drill time. Remember he was not assigned to the unit, he did

> NOT have to be there.

> The following is from a letter by Col. William Campenni

> Ret. published in the Washington Times.

> There was one big exception to this abusive use of the Guard

> to avoid the draft, and that was for those who wanted to fly,

> as pilots or crew members. Because of the training required,

> signing up for this duty meant up to 2ÃÂœÃÂœ years of active duty

> for training alone, plus a high probability of mobilization.

> A fighter-pilot candidate selected by the Guard (such as Lt.

> Bush and me) would be spending the next two years on active

> duty going through basic training (six weeks), flight

> training (one year), survival training (two weeks) and combat

> crew training for his aircraft (six to nine months), followed

> by local checkout (up to three more months) before he was

> even deemed combat-ready. Because the draft was just two

> years, you sure weren't getting out of duty being an Air

> Guard pilot. If the unit to which you were going back was an

> F-100, you were mobilized for Vietnam. Avoiding service?

> Yeah, tell that to those guys. The Bush critics do not

> comprehend the dangers of fighter aviation at any time or

> place, in Vietnam or at home, when they say other such pilots

> were risking their lives or even dying while Lt. Bush was in

> Texas. Our Texas ANG unit lost several planes right there in

> Houston during Lt. Bush's tenure, with fatalities. Just

> strapping on one of those obsolescing F-102s was risking one's life.

> Here is some information that the "objective" media

> avoids telling you. John Kerry joined the Navy Reserve, he

> did not JOIN the Navy. The Reserve was just like the National

> Guard. Kerry did NOT know he would be sent to Vietnam.

> George Bush joined the Guard for a SIX-year term. If

> you are drafted, you only have to serve TWO years. Bush

> probably did not need to pull strings to get into a jet

> fighter unit. Jets required a greater time commitment than

> normal Guard postings. Pilots from the unit that he joined

> were being sent to Vietnam. All the publications that have

> researched this have concluded that there is NO evidence that

> he used any influence to get into the Guard. The liberal

> publications will say that there is no evidence, but it is

> still suspicious. That is a good journalistic standard? So,

> do you get it, Bush joined a unit that at the time was

> serving in Vietnam.

> The following is research from aerospaceweb.org ........

> Nevertheless, we have established that the F-102 was serving

> in combat in Vietnam at the time Bush enlisted to become an

> F-102 pilot. In fact, pilots from the 147th FIG of the Texas

> ANG were routinely rotated to Vietnam for combat duty under a

> program called "Palace Alert" from 1968 to 1970. Palace Alert

> was an Air Force program that sent qualified F-102 pilots

> from the ANG to bases in Europe or southeast Asia for periods

> of three to six months for frontline duty. Fred Bradley, a

> friend of Bush's who was also serving in the Texas ANG,

> reported that he and Bush inquired about participating in the

> Palace Alert program. However, the two were told by a

> superior, MAJ Maurice Udell, that they were not yet qualified

> since they were still in training and did not have the 500

> hours of flight experience required. Furthermore, ANG veteran

> COL William Campenni, who was a fellow pilot in the 111th FIS

> at the time, told the Washington Times that Palace Alert was

> winding down and not accepting new applicants.

> As he was completing training and being certified as a

> qualified F-102 pilot, Bush's squadron was a likely candidate

> to be rotated to Vietnam. However, the F-102 was built for a

> type of air combat that wasn't seen during that conflict, and

> the plane was withdrawn from southeast Asia in December 1969.

> The F-102 was instead returned to its primary role of

> providing air defense for the United States. In addition, the

> mission of Ellington AFB, where Bush was stationed, was also

> changing from air defense alert to training all F-102 pilots

> in the US for Air National Guard duty. Lt. Bush remained in

> the ANG as a certified F-102 pilot who participated in

> frequent drills and alerts through April of 1972. ... By this

> time, the 147th Fighter Wing was also beginning to transition

> from the F-102 to the F-101F, an updated version of the

> F-101B used primarily for air defense patrols. Furthermore,

> the war in Vietnam was nearing its end and the US was

> withdrawing its forces from the theater. Air Force personnel

> returning to the US created a glut of active-duty pilots, and

> there were not enough aircraft available to accommodate all

> of the qualified USAF and ANG pilots. Since USAF personnel

> had priority for the billets available, many of the Air

> National Guard pilots whose enlistments were nearly complete

> requested early release. The ANG was eager to fulfill these

> requests because there was not enough time to retrain F-102

> pilots to operate new aircraft before their enlistments were

> up anyway. Bush was one of those forced out by the

> transition, and he was honorably discharged as a first

> lieutenant in October 1973, eight months before his six-year

> enlistment was complete. Bush had approximately 600 flight

> hours by the time he completed his military service.

> The folks at aerospaceweb concluded.........

> While Bush did not see combat in Vietnam, it is also obvious

> he was not seeking a way to avoid the risk of being sent to

> Vietnam. At the time he was training to be an F102 pilot, ANG

> units and that aircraft type were based in Vietnam.

> In conclusion, there is no evidence Bush got special

> treatment to join the Guard. He did NOT miss any meetings, he

> was not assigned to the Alabama Guard. The reason the so

> called "objective" media holds on to this myth is that it

> lets them keep asking, where was Bush? The issue of his being

> grounded is also answered because he would no longer be

> flying since his plane was obsolete and he did not have

> enough Guard time left to train in a new jet. You don't need

> to report for a physical if you are not flying. Duh!

> Kerry joined the Navy Reserve and did not expect to go

> to Vietnam. When Kerry did go to Vietnam the swift boats were

> not during river patrols. They were doing coastal patrols and

> were not in much danger. That is when he volunteered to join

> the Swiftee's. The assignment of those boats was changed

> after he was accepted for the duty. Surprise, he got action

> and the rest is disputed history.

> The information in this article was published in

> "George Magazine", "New York Times", "Washington Times",

> "Chicago Sun-Times", "Washington Post" and aerospaceweb.org.

> - - -

> The best explanation I've seen so far.

> - Bob

[excessive quoting removed by server]