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To: my_pointy_head_is_sharp
All lies:

Bush volunteered for the Texas ANG (as a single-seat air defense F-102 pilot during a period when fully 1/4 of all ejection seats were actually being used: over the lifetime of a jet fighter, i/4 of them crashed or were shot down!). Flying was/still is extrememly dangerous duty.

When he volunteered, the unit was active in Vietnam, but transferred to home defense while he was in training: he made no effort to find a position 9unlike Gore's "newspaper behind-the-lines duty made as a result of his dad's pull!) Bush didn't "avoid" duty. (His style of fighter (a rocker equipped supersonic interceptor) was used for home defense, not for ground bombing in Vietnam: and there only a few enemy fighters in North Vietnam. tha's why he didn't deploy.)

Bush flew MORE active days overall than he was required by the regulations, and was praised for his flight time and duty: Gore was excused EARLY from Vietnam, and ended up with only 30 more DAYS of active duty as a newspaper "writer" than Bush did as a pilot! (No stories written by Gore have ever been found: it's not clear what he actually did.)

The demo's ONLY complaint about Bush was ONE "duty weekend" period that he asked for (and received permission to substitute!) drill time in Alabama rather than Texas so he could work during the week on a Senate campaign in Alabama. The demo's "claim" that Bush was AWOL stems ONLY from information that this AL USAF (regular) CO didn't remember Bush being on base during that time; but Bush didn't report to the USAF commanding officer; as a junior reservist, he would NEVER have been in contact with a base CO!

In fact, his girlfriend at the time remembers Bush specifically talking about training on base, so there are "witnesses" that show he WAS training.

After returning to TX after the election, he made more flight time in Houston (reasonable - AL wouldn't probably let a TX reservist take an expensive fighter jet up fo rgrins and giggles!) and finished the year with all his required flight hours.

This "attorney general" had better get his facts better organized in his cases than he did reading his demo faxed lie sheet....

---...---...

By the way, that "smart TN boy" this democrat lawyer is praising flunked out of not only law school in TN, but also out of "divinity school" !

87 posted on 05/12/2003 2:50:24 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I support FR monthly; and ABBCNNBCBS (continue to) Lie!)
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE
After returning to TX after the election, he made more flight time in Houston (reasonable - AL wouldn't probably let a TX reservist take an expensive fighter jet up fo rgrins and giggles!) and finished the year with all his required flight hours.

This isn't quite right. It wasn't flying hours that he made up, it was "drills" and "points". Drills are "inactive duty" training periods of 4 hours. You get 1 point for each drill, or each day of active duty, plus 15 points for "participation". There is a minimum number required per year. Most unit assigned guardsmen or reservists, who use the same system, do 48 drills (1 weekend/month traditionally) plus 14-16 days (two weeks) active duty for training, each year.However not that many points are required to remain in good standing. Individual reservists only do 24 drills and 12-14 days active duty, and with the 15 gratis points, just make the minimum of 50 points, unless they do extra "no pay" drills, or other point gaining activities, such as taking correspondence courses of various types. The points are used not only for retention, but also for figuring "good years" for retirement and for calculating the amount of retired pay for reservists. They basically take the total points accurred, divide that by the total number of days of active duty a person with the same years of service would have if they served it all on active duty, and then multiply the ratio by the amount of retired that "all active duty" person with the same service (years) and pay grade would have.

He wouldn't have been checked out in whatever aircraft type the AL ANG was flying, unless it was fortuitously the same type as his Texas ANG unit flew, the F-102, which it wasn't. The AL ANG was a reconissance unit, flying the RF-84 Thunderflash (although about that time they transitioned to the RF-4C) while Bushs TX ANG unit was and is a fighter/interceptor unit, flying at that time the F-102 Delta Dagger, (about that time they became a transition training unit, training ANG pilots from various states to fly the F-102 and F-101 aircraft)

143 posted on 05/12/2003 4:03:54 PM PDT by El Gato
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