Letter: Bush served Texas Air National Guard well

The Collegiate Times ^ | February 12, 2004 | Dick Culbertson

[veronica]

I assume the author of “Old guard was not today’s fighting force” (CT, Feb. 6) got most of his “facts” regarding the Air National Guard from a local ultra-left rag sheet.

And I haven’t the foggiest idea who Eric Boehlert is, but I’ll bet he’s a liberal leftist.

For their edification, George W. Bush first qualified for Air Force flight training in 1968, earned his wings and became a fighter pilot in the F-102 interceptor, not the easiest bird to master.

When released from active duty, he affiliated with the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Air Force base near Houston. His flight instructor told the Boston Globe, “I would rank him among the top 5 percent of the pilots I knew.”

Working for the unsuccessful Senate election of Republican candidate Winton Blount in 1972 took Bush to Alabama, and he obtained permission to drill with a squadron in Montgomery. Unable to make all the drills because of the heavy campaign schedule, he did make up some of the missed drills on his return to the Texas National Guard.

While not considered an exemplary attendance record, it was far from unsatisfactory, and he received an honorable discharge at the end of his service.

Drilling reservists can be called to active duty at any time at the pleasure of the president. That none were called during the entire Vietnam experience can be laid to the ignorance and ineptness of Lyndon Johnson and his “guns and butter” administration.

Dick Culbertson

alumnus, class of 1950

[2banana]

Drilling reservists can be called to active duty at any time at the pleasure of the president. That none were called during the entire Vietnam experience can be laid to the ignorance and ineptness of Lyndon Johnson and his “guns and butter” administration.

This is incorrect - there were several National Guard and Reservists units called up during the Vietnam War.

[2banana]

Facts about call up of National Guard
and Reserves

Reserve and National Guard Call-ups in response to recent US conflicts:

1961 Berlin Crisis 148,034

1950 Korean Conflict 138,600

1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 14,200

Vietnam War 37,643

Haiti conflict 6,250

Cuban Refugee Crisis 4,481

Persian Gulf War 239,187

Bosnia conflict 28,294

Iraq-related operations 6,479

Kosovo conflict 9,105

War on Terrorism (Since 9/11/01) 352,000

Four in 10 members of the National Guard and reserves lose money when they are activated.

More than 768,183 members of the Guard and reserves have been mobilized in the last 12 years since the Persian Gulf War. For the previous 36 years, the figure was 349,208.

In 1980 the Army National Guard had 368,000 personnel. In 2000 the Army National Guard had 353,000 personnel. They are doing more missions and activations with fewer personnel.

From http://www.operationhomefront.org/Facts%20about%20call%20up%20of%20National%20Guard.htm

[ravingnutter]

AUSTIN, Texas -- When George W. Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard in 1968, there was little chance he would ever see Vietnam from the cockpit of his F-102 Delta Dagger jet fighter.

When the plane was in demand overseas, Bush was not yet qualified to fly it. By the time he passed his final combat flight test in June 1970, the Air Force was pulling the jets out of Southeast Asia.

Bush, the Texas governor and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said in his autobiography that he and a friend, Fred Bailey, tried to join the Palace Alert program that rotated National Guard pilots into Vietnam. A colonel told them only a few more pilots would go and "Fred and I had not logged enough hours to participate," Bush wrote.

Retired Col. Maury Udell, who trained Bush to fly the F-102, has no doubt his pupil was willing to go to Vietnam. Udell agreed that Bush was too inexperienced for Palace Alert, but he said the young man did become a good fighter pilot. "George got really good in air-to-air combat," he said.

Source

[jonno]

bump

[meandog]

I believe most USAF vets on this circuit will agree, the delta wing F-102 was a pig...It was rushed into production in the '50s to counter the Soviet bomber threat and obsolete a decade later. That's why it was given to the guard. It also had a bad accident rate. If Bush was to go to 'nam, he would have had to have been qualified in some other aircraft, such as F-4s or F-100s.

[RippleFire]

bump

[meandog]

Texas Air National Guard F-102 (George W. Bush's) squadron.

[katana]

Some call ups must have occurred, but it's my understanding that activation of reserve and guard units was the exception rather than the rule during Vietnam. Johnson no doubt understood that as unpopular as the war and the draft were, activating large numbers of reserve and guard units would have made things much worse. There was plenty of 18 year old draftee fodder to throw into a war he had no intention or plan to win.

Nixon may have been an SOB but if all he ever did was pull our chestnuts out of Nam (by 1969 going for victory was a political impossibility) and halt the draft he was still a far better president than either of his two predecessors.

[joesnuffy]

In my platoon in Vietnam were several reservists from the Hawiian National Guard...

They were sent to Vietnam with no DEROS date...the rest of us at least new we were going
home if we survived the year (13 mos for Marines)...

The guard members in my infantry platoon had to stay as long as their units were activated..
a year two years three years...they had no idea how long they had to stay..

They were also some of the best soldiers I served with...the jungle was home to them...
and they were a great asset to us...

Pres Bush did say he went into the Air Guard because he didnt want to be drafted into the infantry and his dad had the pull to get him into the Texas unit (when other guys couldnt get in)...(cant blame him for that at all)...but I am curious as to why he didn't just go regular Air Force?

[merry10]

I remember the day my brother's number came up in the lottery. He quietly went upstairs. My dad, retired USN and USAF pilot, said, do you want me to make a call? My brother said yes. My dad did. My brother went Air Force and was a controller for a long time.

[68skylark]

Drilling reservists can be called to active duty at any time at the pleasure of the president. . . . [N]one were called during the entire Vietnam experience.

I know this letter writer means well, but where the h*** does he get his facts? Where did he learn history?

Here's a link to the story of the Delta Rangers from the Indiana Army National Guard, one of the most decorated units of the entire conflict:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/1-151in.htm

"Four members of Company D made the supreme sacrifice on Ranger missions, with two additional deaths resulting from a helicopter crash. Indiana Rangers were decorated 538 times in Vietnam. 19 Silver Stars, 1 Soldiers Medal, 123 Bronze Stars (88 with "V" device for valor), 101 Purple Hearts,111 Air Medals and 183 Army Commendation Medals (29 with "V" device for valor) were awarded for valor and achievement. No other single Army Infantry company was as decorated during a one-year period of time as the Indiana Rangers."

[Dilbert56]

Saw an Air Force history report which said 140 (16%) of F102s were lost in something like 12 years. This was characterized as being good. Still sounds dicey to me. Maybe that's good compared other Century Series.

[AGreatPer]

Breaking Now, On local television, Harrisburg International Airport, now. The head of the local Air National Guard greeted President Bush when he came in this morning. He is on again and said how proud all of the National Guard are of the President. President Bush said, It was my pleasure to be a National Guard Pilot.

I saw Air Force 1 come in this morning and my son was in the audience for his speech at the high school.

Now watching AF1 preparing for the return of the Pres.

[Sabre2000]

Indeed the National Guard was not exempt from the Vietnam Conflict as many units were called, and saw combat duty during their service. Specifically, Four tactical fighter squadrons--the 120th (Colorado), 174th (Iowa), 188th (New Mexico), and 136th (New York)--deployed to Vietnam. And although not a Guard unit, the Guard can claim credit for a fifth squadron, the 3755th: 85 percent of this tactical fighter squadron's personnel were Air Guard volunteers from New Jersey and the District of Columbia.