Posted on 09/07/2004 4:46:21 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
AP: Lawsuit Gets Bush Guard Papers Out
2 minutes ago
By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) was ranked in the middle of his Air National Guard class and flew more than 336 hours in a fighter jet before letting his pilot status lapse and missing a key readiness drill, according to his flight records belatedly uncovered Tuesday under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Pentagon (news - web sites) and Bush's campaign have claimed for months that all records detailing his fighter pilot career have been made public, but defense officials said they found two dozen new records detailing his training and flight logs after The Associated Press filed a lawsuit and crafted new requests under the public records law.
"Previous requests from other requesters for President Bush's Individual Flight Records did not lead to the discovery of these records because at the time President Bush left the service, flight records were subject to retention for only 24 months and we understood that neither the Air Force nor the Texas Air National Guard retained such records thereafter," the Pentagon told the AP.
"Out of an abundance of caution," the government "searched a file that had been preserved in spite of this policy" and found the Bush records, the letter said. "The Department of Defense (news - web sites) regrets this oversight during the previous search efforts."
The records show Bush, a lieutenant in the Texas Air National Guard, was ranked No. 22 in a class of 53 pilots when he finished his flight training at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia in 1969.
Over the next three years, he logged 326.4 hours as a pilot and an additional 9.9 hours as a co-pilot, mostly in his the F-102a jet used to intercept
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
Boy, that mundane report must have dissappointed them. Not exactly an election-shifting expose.
You know where will freeze over first.
Who else can do this - file a law suit to have The Chin's records released to public?
LVM
But Kerry's Vietnam lies are off-limits.
The AP is a complete joke.
Let them. It failed in 2000, and it will fail this year as well. Anything that focuses on military service is bad for Kerry, as it opens up the can of worms detailed in "Unfit for Command".
Kerry's only even halfway plausible strategy from here on out is to lie his ass off about the economy and his plans for socialized medicine.
AP: Lawsuit Gets Bush Guard Papers Out
By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) was ranked in the middle of his Air National Guard class and flew more than 336 hours in a fighter jet before letting his pilot status lapse and missing a key readiness drill, according to his flight records belatedly uncovered Tuesday under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Pentagon (news - web sites) and Bush's campaign have claimed for months that all records detailing his fighter pilot career have been made public, but defense officials said they found two dozen new records detailing his training and flight logs after The Associated Press filed a lawsuit and crafted new requests under the public records law.
"Previous requests from other requesters for President Bush's Individual Flight Records did not lead to the discovery of these records because at the time President Bush left the service, flight records were subject to retention for only 24 months and we understood that neither the Air Force nor the Texas Air National Guard retained such records thereafter," the Pentagon told the AP.
"Out of an abundance of caution," the government "searched a file that had been preserved in spite of this policy" and found the Bush records, the letter said. "The Department of Defense (news - web sites) regrets this oversight during the previous search efforts."
The records show Bush, a lieutenant in the Texas Air National Guard, was ranked No. 22 in a class of 53 pilots when he finished his flight training at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia in 1969.
Over the next three years, he logged 326.4 hours as a pilot and an additional 9.9 hours as a co-pilot, mostly in his the F-102a jet used to intercept enemy aircraft.
The records show his last flight came on April 1972, which is consistent with his pay records that show Bush had a large lapse of duty between April and October of that year, a time he says he went to Alabama to work on an unsuccessful Republican Senate campaign. Bush skipped a required medical exam that cost his pilot's status in August 1972.
A six-month historical record of his 147th Fighter Interceptor Group, also turned over to the AP on Tuesday, shows some of the training Bush missed with his colleagues during that time.
Significantly, it showed the unit joined a "24-hour active alert mission to safeguard against surprise attack" in the southern United State beginning on Oct. 6, 1972, a time when Bush did not report for duty, according to his pay records.
Bush's lone service in October came at another air base an Alabama, where he sought temporary permission to train away from his assigned squadron.
As part of the mission, the 147th kept two F-102a jets the same Bush flew before he lost his flight status for skipping a required medical exam on ready alert to be launched within five minutes warning.
The records also indicate Bush made good grades, scoring an 88 on total airmanship and earning perfect 100 for flying without navigational instruments, operating a T-38 System and studying applied aerodynamics. Other scores ranged from 89 in flight planning to 98 in aviation physiology. |
This will backfire, big time. Until now, no one has really pointed out that Kerry MISSED his reserve training, as he was obligated to do. This WILL come out. I don't know how, but it will (and I don't mean just by the Swifties, either).
Nor does it affect Kerrys service to his country(North Vietnam) during that war.
Nor does it make up for Kerrys crappy Senatorial career.
Or his current practice of stabbing war vets again, or the ripping off of American soldiers equipment.
Sorry, this story should go noowhere and shouldn't have even been made news.
Interesting - the MSM variously shifts from ridiculing the importance of serving in the Air Guard to saying it was vital to our national security, and Bush somehow shirked this duty.
That is an excellent point that I have never seen posted elsewhere. (I may be new but I have lurked for a long time) Thanks for the always interesting analysis.
Something is wrong here. The other thread vouched for Bush never doing time in Alabama. What gives?
Well NOW "W' can say: "My records are ALL out....How about yours "F"?"
What a dumb guy he is!
Till 2008
Yup that dumb. And a Harvard MBA to boot.
I said it before and I'll say it again: Bush is the first INCUMBENT President to be questioned on past events. All of these lies and distortions has been soundly refuted since his first Texas gubernatorial run. Absolutely unprecedented in American history.
Bump to that!
I am really impressed by the president's good grades. :)
I especially love how the AP's attempt at pulling up some "dirt" on President Bush failed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.