WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) ranked in the middle of his Air National Guard flight class and flew 336 hours in a fighter jet before letting his pilot status lapse and missing a key readiness drill in 1972, according to his flight records belatedly uncovered Tuesday under the Freedom of Information Act.
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The Pentagon (news - web sites) and Bush's campaign have claimed for months that all records detailing his fighter pilot career have been made public, but defense officials said they found two dozen new records detailing his training and flight logs after The Associated Press filed a lawsuit and submitted new requests under the public records law.
"Previous requests from other requesters for President Bush's Individual Flight Records did not lead to the discovery of these records because at the time President Bush left the service, flight records were subject to retention for only 24 months and we understood that neither the Air Force nor the Texas Air National Guard retained such records thereafter," the Pentagon told the AP.
"Out of an abundance of caution," the government "searched a file that had been preserved in spite of this policy" and found the Bush records, the letter said. "The Department of Defense (news - web sites) regrets this oversight during the previous search efforts."
Bush's Vietnam-era service in the Texas Air National Guard has become an issue in the presidential campaign as the candidates spar over who would make the best commander in chief. Supporters of Democratic nominee John Kerry (news - web sites), a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, have criticized Bush for serving stateside in the National Guard. Kerry's Republican critics claim Kerry did not deserve some of his five medals.
Bush has repeatedly said he is proud of his Air National Guard service. White House spokesmen said as late as last week the administration knew of no other records of Bush's military service.
"These documents confirm that the president served honorably in the National Guard," White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said Tuesday night.
Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) communications director Jano Cabrera disagreed. "For months George Bush (news - web sites) told the nation that all his military records were public," he said. "Now we know why Bush was trying so hard to withhold these records. When his nation asked him to be on call against possible surprise attacks, Bush wasn't there."
The newly released records show Bush, a lieutenant in the Texas Air National Guard, ranked No. 22 in a class of 53 pilots when he finished his flight training at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia in 1969.
Over the next three years, he logged 326.4 hours as a pilot and an additional 9.9 hours as a co-pilot, mostly in his the F-102A jet used to intercept enemy aircraft. Of the 278 hours he flew in the interceptor, about 77 hours were in the TF-102A, the two-seat trainer version of the one-seat fighter jet.
The records show his last flight was in April 1972, which is consistent with pay records indicating Bush had a large lapse of duty between April and October of that year. Bush has said he went to Alabama in 1972 to work on an unsuccessful Republican Senate campaign. Bush skipped a required medical exam that cost him his pilot's status in August of that year.
Bush's 2000 campaign suggested the future president skipped his medical exam in part because the F-102A was nearly obsolete. Records show Bush's Texas unit flew the F-102A until 1974 and used the jets as part of an air defense drill during 1972.
A six-month historical record of his 147th Fighter Interceptor Group, also turned over to the AP on Tuesday, shows some of the training Bush missed with his colleagues during that time.
Significantly, it showed the unit joined a "24-hour active alert mission to safeguard against surprise attack" in the southern United State beginning on Oct. 6, 1972, a time when Bush did not report for duty, according to his pay records.
Bush's lone service in October was outside Texas, presumably with an Alabama unit he had permission to train with in September, October and November 1972.
As part of the mission, the 147th kept two F-102a jets " the same Bush flew before he was grounded " on ready alert to be launched within five minutes' warning.
The records also show Bush made a grade of 88 on total airmanship and a perfect 100 for flying without navigational instruments, operating a T-38 System and studying applied aerodynamics. Other scores ranged from 89 in flight planning to 98 in aviation physiology.
The newly released records do not include any from five categories of documents Bush's commanders had been required to keep in response to the gaps in Bush's training in 1972 and 1973. For example, National Guard commanders were required to perform an investigation whenever any pilot skipped a medical exam and forward the results up the Air Force chain of command. No such documents have surfaced.
you never give up huh GA . well to bad you have such a miserable excuse for a candidate that all you can do is keep trying to dig up dirt . take the advice given to your candidate and try a look at the issues at hand no history cause your candidate loses in that area . as well as losing on the issues at hand
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I disagree Bob, Kerry, Like him or not went to Nam, when he could have gotten out of it, and he earned his 3 purple hearts, a silver star, and a bronze star.
Bush on the other hand was allowed to join the silver spoon plattoon, bypass a 2yr waiting list, has his pilot status revoked for not showing up, and became an alcholic and drug addict.
oh please stop beating that dead horse no one cares what ketchup boy did or did not do stick to the issues like ketchup boy paying 12%on 5 million dollar income while a guy making 200,00 thosand is paying 38%
how about ketchup boy holding a gun that the bill he cosponspored would make illegal and by the way did he fill out the paperwork before he took possesion of that gun . i doubt it . another illegal act ,please that guy is a perfect candidate for president OF FRANCE
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Good friends are like butt cheeks some crap might come between them ,but they will always come back together
when he could have gotten out of it, and he earned his 3 purple hearts, a silver star, and a bronze star.
Kerry was a nobody...there was no way he coulda gotten out of going. And he did get out of it...he got 3 Purple Hearts and a ride home in world record timing.
He became somebody when he hooked up with Teddy Kennedy once he got back and chunked his medals over that fence, and accused all of his brothers in arms of being war criminals. Now he's proud to have served...it's conveniant to be that way now. He's a "hero" now, and by God, he won't let you forget it...
How many "heros" remind you over and over that that's what they are...few...and most of them aren't real heros.
And whether or not her earned his 3 Purple Hearts is still up for grabs...he has no limps, probably no scars...how the heck do you get 3 PH's with no limps, all your limbs, and no scars?
It's either too easy to get one...or it's a punch in the face for the ones who came back missing legs...paralyzed...and...whether it's too easy or not...
Having the medals thrown away...to some one-legged Vietnam vet, has to be the lowest blow they could ever receive.
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The only people who care about where bush was 35 years ago, are the same that a few years ago said that what Bill Clinton did with Marijauna was in the distant past.
The only thing Kerry is running on is his war record, whichis the past. That is why he will lose.
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The one thing that Guard and Reserve units don't do well is record keeping, especially records of all of the hours you put in beyond the required four-four hour drills per month. Those 335 flight hours represent nearly two years of drill time IN THE AIR they don't even begin to show the number of hours in pre-flight and post flight briefings, inspections or all of the other duties ordinarily performed by any member of a Guard or Reserve unit. Even though the regulations state that you are required to fulfill those four drills, it says nothing about the extra hours required, nor do they mention that just because your drill time has expired that you don't just check out and go home. When you are on a mission, whether in the air or on a small boat on a SAR Mission, you stay until the job is done or you are relieved. On rare occaisions the unit commander may take note of those extra hours and allow you to apply them towards other drills, but usually they are considered freebies to the government. With the number of flight hours logged by GWB I wonder how many of those occaisions were glossed over just as they are for nearly everyone else serving under those conditions.
I disagree Bob, Kerry, Like him or not went to Nam, when he could have gotten out of it, and he earned his 3 purple hearts, a silver star, and a bronze star.
There is a huge difference between being reccomended for decorations and applying for them GA , I'm guessing that you never served ...
I also recently read that Kerry's medals are now being reviewed by the Navy and may in some cases be rescinded , I don't see the Air Force doing the same to Bush . Kerry's Natl. Guard unit was activated and sent to Viet Nam , he didn't volunteer , again a huge difference and no he couldn't have gotten out of it .
GA , you can vote for that lying fool if you want to , he'll still lose because nobody trusts him . If you hate Bush so much that you would vote for "anybody but him" then nobody should trust you either .
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LOL ga, another desparation move, you better give it up, I think you would be alot happier if you get a life and not spend every wakening moment on trying to dig dirt up on a president that is going to win in Nov, AGAIN. You liberals get plum comical in your power search.
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Lawsuit Uncovers New Bush Guard Records
