Posted on 09/24/2004 8:58:46 PM PDT by quidnunc
A retired National Guard officer now living in East Tennessee is weighing into the debate over President Bush's service record.
Volunteer TV's Eric Waddell says the man who swore then-Lieutenant George Bush into the Air National Guard, is rising to the President's defense from his Blount County home.
Retired Colonel Ed Morrisey served in the Air National Guard and is familiar with the President's record since the beginning of his service.
Opposite a portrayal of a soldier not performing his duty he describes a flyer, near the top of his class.
Retired Colonel Morrisey has trained, developed and commanded lots of soldiers over a distinguished career.
He also swore in one very notable officer.
"George W. went to pilot training, seated well, being selected to be a fighter pilot, which is at the top of the line in the Air Force selection process. Came back to train in the F-102 at Ellington. He stood alert like anyone else," says Colonel Morrisey.
According to Morrisey, then-Lieutenant Bush more than fulfilled his guard requirements.
Morrisey says in the six years the President served he never failed to meet participation point requirements.
-snip-
"The Air Force, in their ultimate wisdom, assembled a group of 102's and took them to Southeast Asia. Bush volunteered to go. But he needed to have 500 [flight] hours, but he only had just over 300 hours so he wasn't eligible to go, Morrisey recalls.
Despite that, Lieutenant Bush stayed busy.
"He flew in active air defense missions, training missions. Day, night, regardless of inclement weather," Morrisey says.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at volunteertv.com ...
FYI PING
Thanks for speaking up!
I was wth the 747th AC&W Sq at Ellington until the site closed down. (Comm-Elect). You were up at Sweetwater, I think. Do you remember the designation for the AC&W Sq at Lackland? Do you remember which other units were part of the 31st Air Division. Small world.
I am literally wondering if W is letting the Dims stew over this stuff until it spills over into the debates, at which time, he will blast Kerry for bringing it up and settle the matter once and for all. I can just picture Kerry, droning on about it and W presenting documents and other stuff with which to shut him up.
When will this be on 60 minutes??
Oh,that would be great!
The one thing that inspires me about Bush is his loyalty to those he respects and their reciprocal loyalty. That is the mark of an honorable man, one who knows how to make friends and keep them.
Nice article, interesting read. Thanks for the ping Mo!:)
You're welcome :0)
Well you can bet the lib MSM will never use this story since they only rely on 3rd party recollections of dead peoples opinions.
No, I don't. I went to Lackland a couple of times though. On an eval trip and a cross training trip. The only one I remember there was a Lt named Bill...something. I know we ran the heck out of those Dueces at Ellington and Kelly, though. Indeed, small world. Amazing how a bit of knowledge from the past comes in handy.
Another.. I remember an NCO from Ellington named Lou Florer who was at the Hang AC&W Sq at Wheeler when I was at 326 Air Div.
to the top
February 8, 2004
excerpt from transcript of interview of President Bush by Tim Russert
Russert: Were you favor of the war in Vietnam?
President Bush: I supported my government. I did.
And would have gone had my unit been called up, by the way.
Russert: But you didn't volunteer or enlist to go.
President Bush: No, I didn't. You're right. I served.
I flew fighters and enjoyed it, and provided a service to our country.
In those days we had what was called "air defense command," and it was a part of the air defense command system.
The thing about the Vietnam War that troubles me as I look back was it was a political war.
We had politicians making military decisions, and it is lessons that any president must learn, and that is to the set the goal and the objective and allow the military to come up with the plans to achieve that objective.
And those are essential lessons to be learned from the Vietnam War.
Source: Meet the Press
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4179618/
After all these years, names and numbers kinda blur.
But, if the opportunity comes up, I think more than a few readers would be interested in what you have to say about what a weapons controller did . . . especially the frequency, rigor and intensity of the exercises. Might give most everyone some insight into how closely the Air Force and the Air Guard worked together carrying out their real-world Air Defense mission.
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