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See, you're missing the point on "Significantly". Back in the good old days of the USSR, you could tell when Pravda was lying because an article would start out: "As everyone knows..." "Significantly" means, "We don't see any connection here either, but we're hoping you're too dull to pick it up..." :)

Y'know...this whole thing is just plain silly. Now, I was only 10 years old in 1972, but I'm pretty sure that the guys sitting alert @ Randolph in San Antonio (or Dallas or whatever Guard Base then 1stLt Bush was assigned to) weren't in receipt of hot intelligence expecting an attack on Texas Stadium from (Cuba? Mexico? Guatemala? etc.), so to say the boss absconded in the face of a potential attack is silly ("Alright comrades, let's attack...Texas A&M!"). He went to work on a campaign in AL, and Maxwell AFB (Montgomery) isn't a tactical base, and the Guard unit in Birmingham was a bomber unit. There is no plausible reason to doubt that. He comes from a political family, he made no secret of that. Meanwhile, back in the Lone Star State, it was the Cold War...guess what, fighter guys sat alert... everywhere, that's what they did. Once in a while they were launched for various reasons. I'm sure GWB sat 4 hours in a cocked airplane in a revetment from time to time. Guess what, fighter guys in the Guard STILL sit alert...who d'you think flew over Manhattan on 9/11?
As for flight training, I went through the Navy pipeline about 15 years ago, and I currently instruct in the same squadron I earned my wings in. 50% of those who earn their wings finish in the bottom half, do the math. Circa 1970, I'd bet the attrition rate in Air Force UPT was greater than 50%. To graduate 22 of 53, puts you in the top 42%, so conservatively, of the officers starting flight training, the boss was probably in the top quarter. Keep in mind too, that there's typically a pipeline selection (jets, heavies, etc.) prior to completion, which again shrinks the pool, with the high performers typically going jets. I don't know (and don't much care) what the percentage breakdown by airframe is in the ChAir Force, but I'll stick by my estimate that top 25% is probably right at least. Consider airsickness, aviation adaptability, academic training, stick & rudder skills, procedural recall, and a bunch of other jargon...it's rare to find a developing pilot who is truly solid in all areas, trust me, I see all kinds every day. So, he probably was a serviceable pilot. 300+ hours in three years is probably about right for anything other than a training command, which would be higher, but he wasn't in a training command.
See AFPhys FFI, but in my service, commands are allowed X flight hours per airframe per year in their budget. Multiply that by the number of airframes in the squadron to get squadron flight hours, divide that by the number of pilots to get hours per pilot. Most of 1stLt Bush's contemporaries probably were (same as today) working toward airline jobs. What looks good on a resume? Flight hours. If the war is winding down, the Guard is reducing pilot population, the boys are looking for alternate employment, probably in a big hunk of Boeing sky iron. So, the squadron commander was probably happy to detach any pilot to a nonflying job, meant those 100 or so hours per year could be divvied up among the rest of the fellas. The whole issue is irrelevant and happens all the time.
Clinton went to Oxford and didn't inhale. Gore maltreated his Secret Serve agents, military aides and Marine pilots (no, you'll never hear it directly because they sign a nondisclosure document to keep quiet, but there are plenty of witnesses to the rudeness of the Clinton years...one of my best friends flew Marine One, and all he has to say about the Clinton presidency is that Tipper Gore is quite sweet in person and Chelsea was quiet.) He says nothing about anyone else. I, and my friends aren't running for office, but we're pretty sure who we're voting for.