LOL! I speak Kerry-ish too:
I was against it before I was for it, but then I polled it; and now I was for it, before I was against it.
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?
It's there .. for some reason I couldn't get it to load on a straight link
But if I went through google .. I could get the link to work that way
Go Figure
But it is for real
Whatta cutie he was!!
And, still is. ;o)
That Dubya
ALRIGHT HOTTIE ALERT
Hey I introduce resoultion on Free republic have photo of Dubya in his flight suit then and now introduce everytime Dubya talk about miltary
That freak out Demos lurking
Hey if Male freepers can had Ann Coulter
We could have Dubya
FYI......PING
Blogger figures out why there are no pay stubs.
LOL! I speak Kerry-ish too:
I was against it before I was for it, but then I polled it; and now I was for it, before I was against it.
Great article! Thanks for the ping. I have more ammo to use against 'Rat mantras.
No, this is a question of politics to them. They go to the military experts for issues about troop movements and weapons systems, they go to political pundits on issues of politics.
"So, Mr. Carville, how does it look to the American public that Bush didn't get paid? Doesn't this indicate to the American public that he not only wasn't serving in Vietnam but he wasn't even fulfilling his duties in the Texas Air National Guard?"
"Well, Mr. Matthews, sure that's how it looks. He dodged the draft!"
RACCCCKKKKK IT! ;-)
I hope somebody pick this up from news media maybe Fox news or somebody working for Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh this one theory I haven't hear YET
It make sense Really does
ROTFLOL! Too cute. ;o)
I enjoyed your homepage.
Go Navy! And MM. ;o)
Excellent article, thanks for the ping. That's how it works in the reserves. Some of my own "drilling units" were done on weekdays at college to satisfy the requirements to become a "Battery Commander". There would be no pay records for the time spent in school, but I was credited with "drill attendance". That's the Reserves/Nat.Grd. SOP.
Bush served without pay - BTT
Yeah...and add to this he has about 400 hours in an F-102 that was a death-trap. All the while that Kerry paddled around.
The following is a post written by a regular reader of this site known to those who visit the comments section as "Oak Leaf
PoliPundit.com ^ | September 16, 2004 | Oak Leaf
http://www.blogger.com/blogspot/notfound.pyra?url=/&sub=www.polipundit.com
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/user-posts?id=164606
I hope this article is real but I can't find the URL nor his post?
"They go to the military experts for issues about troop movements and weapons systems, they go to political pundits on issues of politics."
You are absolutely right. However, Jim Angle and Major Garrett are going further than that. They are educating themselves, and their viewers. I truly appreciate that.
Thanks for the ping, MistyCA.
Mainsteam media = lamestream media... they care not for truth, fact or history.
They don't understand the Presidnet's honorable service because they don't want to ... when facts get in the way of twhat they believe, they toss the facts and serve up fiction and distortion.
Rather is as much a loser as Kerry, and they'll both go down with the ship while Dubya cruises to victory.
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