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Why use a trainer instead of an F-102 for these flights? Simple. The pilot gets his required hours in using less fuel, something that was a;ways at a premium for all units.
Libs are making much dog doo about nothing over this.

I and others made some posts here that marveled at the courage it took to fly "Century Series" planes in those days. They had a fuel/engine quirk where they were known to explode for "no reason". Designers eventually worked it out on later planes.

One thing I never saw posted before was the status of these planes. Today you will see all ANG/Reserve fighter units with either F-15's or F-16's. Most units got them new. In the days when President Bush flew, that wasn't the case. Almost all planes the Guard/Reserve had were nearing the end of their service life and hand me downs from the regular Air Force. They weren't in the best shape when units received them. Think of a rental car that the company has replaced, but it's still drivable. It took Herculean efforts by the maintenance crews to keep them flying. Am I inferring that the pilots were flying death traps. No. I'm declaring it. It took guts to fly those planes even once.