I’m a ‘GipperGal’ as well, but if you believe the head of the program didn’t know the eligibility requirements or whether Palin used her influence to get him in, you are perhaps more gullible than the average Freeper, perhaps particularly committed to not giving Palin’s enemies potential ammunition from a conservative board such as this. I don’t know.
A boom in business means you need lots of people and are willing to hire and train them and cut them some slack when they don't meet all the criteria (by "cutting some slack" I mean allowing them to train while they complete their GED).
And here's a thought: why do you suppose Johnston decided to seek the apprenticeship right now and complete his GED by correspondence? Possibly because the apprenticeships were open due to the increased work following the AGIA contract and if he waited until he finished high school he would have to compete with all the other recent grads? Just a thought.
Please note that the apprenticeship has nothing to do with the government. It's not a government job. ASRC is a private company. If they gave Johnston preferential treatment, that's their business. But from the looks of it, they had a lot of positions open and were willing to train people.