Did President Bush ever intercept any Bears?
#166. There is a slight possibility of that. I'm sure the President stood alert at Houston, however Soviet "Bear" aircraft incursions into that area were rare. One that made national news when a Cuban delegation landed at an airport in Louisiana in 1974 unannounced in a TU-114 Aeroflat Civil Transport version of a TU-95 Bear Bomber in 1974. Alert in LA was stood down in 1970 prior to that incident after maintaing alert for over 15 years previously with F-86D, F-102A/TF-102A aircraft. After that incident Alert was maintained in Louisiana as well as Texas until into the Clinton Presidency when alert was shut down for several years and was re-instated by President Bush on 09/11/01 as were ALL of the 18 other sites that were previously closed down under Clinton(Only 7 on alert starting 1994 roughly).
AM, ping for your interest as well