All three reports incorrectly listed Bill Burkett as being in the Texas Air National Guard. He was in the Texas Army National Guard, which could explain use of terms in the memos that weren't consistent with Air National Guard usage.
The Gillespie article posted to you by Smartass provides good information to tie this together:
The Kerry campaign told him (Burkett) they wanted to "counterattack," and he says he "gave them the information to do it with."
Kerry campaign devised a strategy to attack the president’s National Guard service that began the same night the Republican National Convention ended, with Senator Kerry attacking the president’s Guard service on the night of September 2.
On Wednesday, September 8th, the day of the report, the DNC officially launched "Operation Fortunate Son" and "Texans For Truth," funded by a Kerry supporter, announced an advertising campaign.
On Thursday, the day after the "60 Minutes" report, the DNC distributed an ad that had clearly been prepared in anticipation of the CBS News report, and cited the documents at a DNC press conference where Senator Tom Harkin called the president a "liar."
Plus, both Mr Rather and the LA Times described Burkett as a "commander." Far as I can tell, he was some type of technical advisor. No indication he ever commanded anyone. A "commander" of course implies much more clout and gravitas than a "consultant."