Summary of BushJr's Missing Guard Duty

Someone mentioned that if BushJr's AWOL during the Viet Nam war was significant, it would have been picked up by the media & major newspapers. BushJr's failure to report from May 1972 to May 1973, was in the introduction to this forum for several days and reports can be found in the following newspaper articles:

New York Times Article, May 23, 2000, original URL:  http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/p/AP-Bush-Guard.html  
[now only available in the NYTimes archives]

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/144/nation/1_year_gap_in_Bush_s_Guard_duty+.shtml http://www.herbnstone.com/Hawkeye/MirrorArticles/Article4.htm

The Globe article, written by Walter Robinson and published 5/23/2000 is probably the most extensive. Robinson reviews the acknowledgments BushJr has received for his time in the National Guard as well as BushJr's own accounts [See " A Charge to Keep"] of how thrilling he found his pilot training to be. BushJr completed pilot training in June 1970 and, then, in his own words: ''I continued flying with my unit for the next several years."

BushJr's military records contradict his story. In the final 18 months of his military service, BushJr did no flying. From May 1972 to May 1973, BushJr is unaccounted for -- AWOL, apparently. He told Texas he was reporting in Alabama, but there is no record that he ever did. Recently, his aids dug up some "pay stub" type records that indicate that after May 1973, he returned to Texas and did do some guard duty. But, there are no military records of him in Alabama, and the general in charge of where he should have reported has no memory of him. [Robinson, 2000]

BushJr declined to be interviewed by Robinson. BushJr's spokesperson claimed that BushJr had "some recollection" of attending drills that year although attendance may have been inconsistent. [Robinson, 2000]

What was Bush Jr doing in 1972? Well for five months [ May 1972 to November 1972], BushJr was working on a US Senate campaign of Republican Winton Blount, a friend of Bush's father in Alabama. During that time, he was supposed to be attending drills at an Air National Guard unit in Montgomery. [Robinson, 2000]

There is no record of BushJr attending drills at that unit in Montgomery. BushJr has produced no pay stubs for that time in Alabama. The now retired general who commanded the National Guard unit in Montgomery said that BushJr never appeared for duty there.

After the senate election was over sometime in November, 1972, BushJr returned to Houston. However, for seven more months there is still no record of him showing up for drills in either Alabama or Texas.

Bush Jr was up for his annual evaluation in the guards in May, 1973. This evaluation was to be done by his two superior officers at Ellington Air Force Base. The evaluation was not completed; the reason given was: "Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of this report." Note: The period of the report was from May1, 1972 to April 30, 1973, and BushJr had returned to Texas sometime in November 1972. These two officers at Ellington noted their assumption that BushJr had been training with the unit in Montgomery, Alabama for those twelve months. They did not know that Alabama had no records of his attendance, nor did they know that BushJr had returned to Texas 7 months prior and had never reported for duty at Ellington Air Force Base.

The top personnel officer at Ellinton Air Force Base at the time was Colonel Rufus G. Martin, now retired. When interviewed, he said he believed "that First Lieutenant Bush Completed his final year of service in Alabama." [Robinson, 2000]  That may have been what he was led to believe, but we now know this was not true. In fact, BushJr wasn't even in Alabama for seven of the missing months.

Under Air National Guard rules at the time, guardsmen who missed duty could be reported to their Selective Service Board and inducted into the Army as draftees.

Robinson's hypothesis about why BushJr was given special treatment, i.e. not told as others were to report to his Selective Service Board to be inducted into the Army as a draftee: BushJr's unit was "lackadaisical in holding him to his commitment. Many states, Texas among them, had a record during the Vietnam War of providing a haven in the Guard for the sons of the well-connected, and a tendency to excuse shirking by those with political connections." [Robinson, 2000]

BushJr did not start out shirking. From his initial training until April 1972, there are logs of numerous hours of duty. He exceeded the minimum requirements for pilots with that guard unit. BushJr had a six-year commitment to the guard. During the first four years, he spent 18 months in flight school and then did the equivalent of three more months on active duty, leaving him only one month short of Al Gore's length of service with the Army.

However, BushJr's participation suddenly all stopped after April 1972.

Does this gap in BushJr's military records correspond to anything else that's been reported about him during that time period? It's prior to the time that BushJr indicates he has not used cocaine, ie 1974 to present. It coincides " with a well-publicized incident during the 1972 Christmas holidays: Bush had a confrontation with his father after he took his younger brother, Marvin, out drinking and returned to the family's Washington home after knocking over some garbage cans on the ride home. " [Robinson, 2000] Note: This also confirms that at least BushSr and BushJr's brother Marvin knew he wasn't in Alabama that Christmas.

What resources did Robinson review to glean this information? 160 pages of BushJr's records were reviewed. These records were supplemented by interviews with former Guard officials. Not all of BushJr's records were available. Robinson writes, "And as Bush has risen in public life over the last several years, Texas military officials have put many of his records off-limits and heavily redacted many other pages, ostensibly because of privacy rules."

BushJr's Entry into the Air Guard

At the time that BushJr gained entry into the Air Guard, his father was a Houston congressman. There was a waiting list of 500 trying to get into that unit; BushJr was put ahead of those 500 who had been waiting. "last year, Ben Barnes, who was speaker of the Texas House in 1968, said in a sworn deposition in a civil lawsuit that he called Guard officials seeking a Guard slot for Bush after a friend of Bush's father asked him to do so." [Robinson, 2000]

Despite BushJr's low test scores on the aptitude tests [at the 25th percentile], BushJr was given an assignment to flight school and an automatic commission as a second lieutenant. Most prospective pilots that were given these benefits had college ROTC courses or prior Air Force experience. "Bush had neither." [Robinson, 2000]

BushJr performed well during 55 weeks of flight school at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia and five months of full-time training back at Ellington.

BushJr's campaign has been worried about the gap in records beginning in May 1972. When first approached, BushJr's spokesperson, Bartlett referred a reporter to Albert Lloyd Jr., a retired colonel who was the Texas Air Guard's personnel director from 1969 to 1995. [Robinson, 2000]

Lloyd confirmed that the Bush campaign had been concerned about this gap in BushJr's military records over a year ago.

Documentation:

On May 24, 1972, after he moved to Alabama, Bush made a formal request

to do his equivalent training at the 9921st Air Reserve Squadron at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. Two days later, that unit's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Reese H. Bricken, agreed to have Bush join his unit temporarily. [Robinson, 2000] In Houston, Bush's superiors approved. But a higher headquarters disapproved, noting that Bricken's unit did not have regular drills. Inexplicably, months went by with no resolution to Bush's status - and no Guard duty. [Robinson, 2000]

By August 1972, BushJr was removed from flight status. Why? BushJr had failed to take his annual flight physical.

There is a record of BushJr's request for permission to do Air Guard Duty for September, October, and November of 1972 at the 187th Tactical Recon Group in Montgomery. Records indicate that "permission was granted, and Bush was directed to report to Turnipseed, the unit's commander. " [Robinson, 2000]

In interviews during the week of May14th, 2000, "Turnipseed and his administrative officer at the time, Kenneth K. Lott, said they had no memory of Bush ever reporting." [Robinson, 2000]

According to Lloyd, the retired Texas Air Guard official, if BushJr had attended the drills there, his attendance would have been certified and sent to Ellington. Neither Montgomeray nor Ellinton have such a record.

BushJr's Discharge Papers

"Bush's discharge papers list his service and duty station for each of his first four years in the Air Guard. But there is no record of training listed after May 1972, and no mention of any service in Alabama." [Robinson, 2000] Where is the entry for the period between May 1972 and May 1973? There is none.

Remember that under Air National Guard rules at the time, guardsmen who missed duty could be reported to their Selective Service Board and inducted into the Army as draftees. BushJr was treated differently for some reason. Why?.

How did the Texas Air Guard treat BushJr when they discovered he was missing from duty? First, it was in May 1972 that Lieutenant Colonel William D. Harris Jr. and Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian effectively declared Bush missing from duty. That same month, there are two "special orders" commanding Bush to appear for active duty on nine days in May 1973. [Lloyd, 2000]; [Robinson, 2000]

What does BushJr have to say about the missing year of service, the lack of attendance? Bartlett claims that since BushJr was no longer flying he was doing ''odds and ends'' under different supervisors whose names he could not recall. [Robinson, 2000] Essentially, BushJr doesn't remember what he did for Air Guard Duty during that time nor does he recall who might have supervise him during that time.

According to retired Colonel Martin, the Texas Guard Unit's former administrative officer, BushJr did not report to Ellington when he returned to Texas in November 1972. Ellington thought he was still serving in Alabama. However, BushJr was definitely in Houston during that time period: In BushJr's own autobiography he says he worked in an inner-city, antipoverty program in Houston during that time period.

If BushJr had reported to his unit in November 1972, he could have returned to flying as others in his unit were doing --- if & when he passed a flight physical. Remember, he had not shown up for his flight physical in August 1972. Although the F-102 was being phased out, his unit's records show that Guard pilots logged thousands of hours in the F-102 in 1973. [Robinson, 2000]

There is a torn, single page of paper in the records that has BushJr's social security number and

numbers awarding some points for Guard duty. But the partial page is undated.

Rationalizations for the Wayward Son:

Lloyd's rationalization for what BushJr did is as follows: BushJr was focused on getting discharged by then. He was have been told he was no longer "in the flow chart" ~~~ whatever that means. So, Lloyd fantasizes that BushJr might have thought, 'Hell, I'm not going to bother going to drills.' Then, later, when the rating time comes around, someone might have noticed and called BushJr up and said, `George, you're in a pickle. Get your ass down here and perform some duty.' And he did,'' Lloyd said. [Robinson, 2000]

That would explain, Lloyd said, the records showing Bush cramming so many drills into May, June, and July 1973. During those three months, Bush spent 36 days on duty.

How many other young men would have liked to receive this personalized, preferential treatment rather than being told to report for induction into the Army?

BushJr's release from active duty is dated 10/1/1973. His last day in uniform was 7/30/1973.

What does it say in BushJr's last evaluation? When the headquarters of the Air National Guard requested BushJr's final annual evaluation in November 1973, the administrator officer at Ellington wrote: ''Report for this period [May 1972 to May 1973] not available for administrative reasons.''

In May 1972, Bush asked for and received permission to continue his duties in Alabama while he worked as political director on the Senate campaign of Winton M. Blount, a friend of his father. [AP, May 23, 2000]    It was not the first time Bush had left the Guard for political duties. In November 1968, right after basic training, he worked as a low-level aide for Edward Gurney in his campaign for a Senate seat from Florida, according to a pair of recent biographies of Bush.

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday, after reviewing 160 pages of documents, that Bush's military records indicated he did not actually perform drills or continue flying while in Alabama. [AP, May 23, 2000]   There are no military records that BushJr did any Guard Drills in Alabama. No one remembers him being there; however, BushJr claims he remembers being there.... "Bush aides provided a payroll document they said indicated Bush served nine days of active duty after returning to Houston from Alabama. [AP, May 23, 2000]

Bush Defense Team:

A Bush spokesman, Dan Bartlett, said after talking with the governor that Bush recalls performing some duty in Alabama and ''recalls coming back to Houston and doing [Guard] duty, though he does not recall if it was on a consistent basis.'' Noting that Bush, by that point, was no longer flying, Bartlett added, ''It's possible his presence and role became secondary.''

Last night, Mindy Tucker, another Bush campaign aide, asserted that the governor ''fulfilled all of his requirements in the Guard.'' If he missed any drills, she said, he made them up later on. [Robinson, 2000]