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USA Today:
* Bill Burkett, a former lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard, says that four years ago, he and a group of officers informed Adjutant General Danny James, the state commander, that 7% of the Texas Army Guard's 16,300 troops were ghost soldiers. Burkett and others say that despite promises to fix the problem, the Texas Army Guard continues to include soldiers who shouldn't be on the rolls. According to figures provided by the National Guard Bureau, over the past two years, Texas has had anywhere from 1,300 to 1,800 unpaid soldiers on its rolls, more than 11% at its peak.

MICHAEL HEDGES, Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau. Houston Chronicle.Houston, Tex.: Feb 14, 2004. pg. 24.
Burkett and some friends from his Guard days have been involved in an ugly dispute with the Texas National Guard and officers appointed by then-Gov. Bush for several years.

One of those friends, Harvey Gough, said this week that he became so incensed at what he saw as malfeasance by the Guard's senior officers that he hired a private detective to delve into James' personal life. James is the son of former Gen. Chappy James, the first black four-star general.

Through a spokesman, James denied all of Burkett's charges.

Burkett, Gough, Adams and others have waged an ugly feud with the Guard over what they said was fraud, waste and corruption.

Burkett sued three officers in the Texas Guard in the late 1990s, claiming that they blocked him from receiving medical support after he went to Panama on a Guard-related mission and contracted a debilitating disease. Gough alleged in a lawsuit that he was subjected to anti-Semitic remarks from one of James' staffers, and when he complained, James court-martialed him. Both suits failed.

Burkett also raised charges against James and others at Texas legislative hearings in the late 1990s.

Rep. Bob Hunter, R-Abilene, conducted one of the hearings and said this week that there was no substance to Burkett's charges.

Sounds like the good ol boys got busted by James and they didn't like it.

Killian's son was on Hannity today and he said that he has asked other Guardsman in Texas about this guy, and he says this guy was working on the Bush election campaign in the 1990's and Karen Hughes kicked him off of it. Ever since then, he's been after Bush and Hughes, and everyone else from the Governor days. First time I heard that, but it explains a lot.