Posted on 09/16/2004 9:17:20 PM PDT by Merry
"Bush served his country without pay"
The following is a post written by a regular reader of this site known to those who visit the comments section as "Oak Leaf". He is an active reservist with over twenty years of service that includes both the National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve. He has extensive experience in personnel programs management and has served on the faculty at a senior service college. Air Guard Service Without Pay
When George W. Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard, a component of the US Air Force, he entered into a six year statutory service obligation. On December 1, 1969 he signed DD Form 1644 "Ready Reserve Service Agreement" which states, "I agree to be a member of the Ready Reserve until 26 May 1974." I first need to explain that the ready reserve is all reserve soldiers that are members of both "drilling units" and to the "individual ready reserve" which is simply a pool of individuals that can be called to active duty. When you review the "officer record brief" of 1LT George W. Bush, you find that on October 1, 1973 he was discharged from the Texas Air National Guard and re-assigned to the Air Reserve Personnel Center (Individual Ready Reserve). He remained assigned to the Air Reserve Personnel Center until he was ultimately discharged the following May. To a civilian this is slightly confusing because the Texas discharge makes it appear that he was completely discharged from the military, but this is not correct. The discharge simply reflects that he is no longer affiliated with the Military Department of the State of Texas. Yes, each state has a "Military Department."
With every enlistment in the reserves an "Acknowledgement of Service Obligations" is part of the enlistment contract. It states, "You will be required to attend all scheduled unit training assemblies unless you are excused by proper authority. If you accrue 9 or more unexcused absences during any continuous 365 day period you may be declared an unsatisfactory participant." Each month a reserve unit is required to complete a "Record of Reserve Training" that lists all assigned members of that unit. Each four hour period on that list represents a training assembly and you will be coded with either P (present), E (excused), U (unexcused) or ET/RST ("other training"). Had 1LT Bush received nine U's he would have been declared an unsatisfactory participant. If you missed two weekends and one morning you would have 9 U's. Because this never occurred, it means that he was either granted E's as an excused absence or performed equivalent training (ET). That alone verifies he met his obligation
The old media remains extremely focused on the performance of duties that meets that old saying, "one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer." That saying falls in line with "my recruiter lied to me." Civilians would be astonished to discover that many reservists perform duties without pay. In reviewing my own records, 13% of my reserve man days in my first six years were without pay and surprisingly while a college student, 21% of my reserve man days were performed without pay. A search of the web led me to AF Form 1288 (front/back) in which 1LT Bush requests duty in Alabama on May 24, 1972. Block 17 shows that the request is "no pay, training category G." In the approval section, it is clearly disclosed that this is "pay group none." Why is this important? Regardless, of the ultimate unit he ended up training with, it shows that 1LT Bush was willing to train without pay. The old media remains focused on pay records!! In regards to pay records, USA Today states, "They show he was paid for 82 days in 1972 and 1973, but show no service for five months between April and October 1972." Pay records would show no service during this time period because he was not paid! 1LT Bush served his country without pay. That is why there is no pay record.
1LT Bush can be "faulted" for one thing and that is keeping his retirement points correct. I need to point out that, "It is the soldier's responsibility to insure that his or her retirement points are correct."
1LT Bush was "responsible" for getting those retirement points posted to his record. I would assume that the records were sent forward and there was never any follow up because he chose not to serve 20 years. Because he earned at least 50 points for each year of service meeting the requirement of a satisfactory year there was just no incentive to pursue further record updating. In my own reserve career, I am still trying to correct unpaid duty records that go back 20 years. I have three comments on Oak Leaf's post. First, I want to thank him for taking the time to review these documents and to write such a detailed, yet clear and easy to follow analysis. Second, I think one reason the media has done such a pathetic job covering these matters is because they do not have enough people within their ranks with any military experience. Third, this point that Oak Leaf makes illustrates one more stark contrast between President Bush and Senator Kerry. Bush evidently worked without pay, and probably, due to inadequate follow-up on the paperwork, without any recognition for that time. John Kerry went to ridiculous lengths to document every bruise and scratch he got in Vietnam, and to make sure every activity he was engaged in was not only written up for awards, but was even recreated and memorialized on film. Isn't that just everything voters need to know about the character of these two men in a nutshell?
The nastiest of the leftists are so antimilitary/antidefense that they're usually hopeless on any subject that relates to the military. They "see a taint where they ain't none." Thanks for an informative post.
bttt
Few liberals do...
"I guess that's why the MSM has a problem with us Pajama People .. We Think"
LOL! We surely do, and I think it makes them constipated.
At least, that's MY take on it. ;o)
A member may earn either a single drill or a multiple drill while in IDT drill status, but only one drill per day while serving in AD or ADT status...
Bump and a bookmark for the end of the stupid issue of national guard. I'm forwarding it to the White House press office (and I hope others do too) so that they can finally answer the questions (and pass out printouts) so that the MSM can get back to concentrating on Dan Rather presenting known bogus memos to backup a non-story.
You just reminded me that someone ought to do a compare and contrast thread. Bush certainly looked All American, didn't he?. Contrast that to the war protester Kerry.
Speak English, man!
Roger that!
They won't even remotely understand it ... or even try. After all, it deals with the military. They'll just drink their kool aid and follow the talking points.
Thanx for the ping.
The truth will prevail...good post!
A classic example is the business about Kerry's supposed Silver Star wtih a V. Not a single urinalist had pointed out that because of experience in WWII and thereafter with the Bronze Star with and without the V, (to distinguish between its being earned in a combat or non-combat role) the Navy created its Silver Star to have its V built in, so that there would be no Silver Star with a V and all Silver Stars would be awarded for combat heroism. Have you heard a single urinalist point this out? This makes the supposed V on the Kerry Silver Star not only a violation of law but a stupid and clumsy fraud, displaying a disturbing and foolish arrogance that one would not want in a Commander-in-Chief.
"Bush certainly looked All American, didn't he?."
Bush is, has been, and always will be, ALL American, for sure.
Kerry is, has been, and always will be, ALL French. ;o)
Huh? Is this a spoof?
http://www.blogger.com/blogspot/notfound.pyra?url=/&sub=www.polipundit.com
Nice, nice job. Thanks for posting this information that I frankly did not know.
A blogger serving in the miltary saying this
You know what I was thinking about this I was A maybe pay receipts got lost long time ago in Pentagon archives
B this what happen
Alright DUBYA rack him
They're researching Kinkos in Abilene Texas because Buckhead sent them over there. Maybe another Freeper just sent them out to do their next bit of research.
WOW! Kerry wouldn't even get married without pay!
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