Lieutenant Bush had a requirement to show up for drills somewhere. There is no record of his having done so, either in Alabama or Texas, for a one year period. Turnipseed's statement is not damning, true, but it is consistent with the Democrat-sponsored allegation that Bush stayed with the Guard long enough to get through flight school, and then avoided drills for a year, and then got an early discharge. The problem has always been that there is no paperwork and no testimony to support the President's contention that he showed up during the period in question, and met his military obligations. Since that period was also at the height of the Vietnam War, in which Air Guardsmen were flying in combat, this leaves open the question of whether Bush was going through the motions of military career at the time while in truth shirking his contractual obligation to the Guard because he wanted to avoid combat duty.
There's a simple way to dispell criticism. Come up with eyewitness reports that he served in Alabama. Come up with paperwork stating that he did so.
Get real.
I'm looking at his OER for that time. It's his official fitness report for the year.
It reports EXACTLy what is expected for remote duty, non-flying duty. His official record says he served correctly for that whole year. No "AWOL" No problems. No excuses.
Which is EXACTLY what he did. He (BUSH) DOES have credible witnesses for his reserve time that quarter, including civilians.
It is Kerry who dodged out of Vietnam on an unwritten (technically it didn't exist!) excuse to leave.
It was Kerry who got a medal for shooting a wounded civilian in the back.....
It was Bush who was flying satisfactorily and credibly in a dangerous aircraft. (One in 4 fighters crashed over time: that make Bush's duty more dangerous than sitting in Kerry's air-conditioned frigate for a few months. Which he also left early.) A lot longer than "just flight school."
A lot more than Kerry's 48 days of combat duty. Gee. Just 48 days. And Kerry got out of Vietnam.
Heck..
Gore spent a whole 6 months. (It was in rear duty, as a news reporter. But is was twice as long as Kerry.)