"George Z. Bush" wrote in message
...

"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
t...

"George Z. Bush" wrote in message
...

"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
t...

"George Z. Bush" wrote in message
...

(Snip)

You and fact have demonstrated little in common of late. Just so you
can
review it again, here is the source that makes your earlier
statement
that
GWB never volunteered for Palace Alert an incorrect statement on
your
part
(and note that the reporters who concluded GWB did indeed volunteer
came
from the Washington Post, hardly a sympathetic outlet to GWB):

http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/19...5no19_bush.htm

It really gauls you to have to admit you were wrong on that one,
huh?

I've already explained how a rated ANG pilot can ground himself by
letting
his
flight physical expire without renewing it with a fresh physical exam.
I
didn't
say it because I thought it pretty obvious that you could do that a
minute, a
day, a month or whatever after you've volunteered to fly to the moon,
safe
in
the knowledge that without a current physical you weren't going to be
allowed to
fly anything anywhere. Anybody who was motivated to doing any combat
flying had
only to make an appointment with his flight surgeon and take and pass
his
flight
physical in order to be eligible for selection. Without taking that
exam,
all
the volunteering in the world would only fool those dummies who don't
fly
into
thinking that it was for anything but show. Volunteering for an
assignment that
you've deliberately made yourself ineligible for is dishonest and
worthy
only of
scorn from the flying community of military pilots.

No, you are dodging again. You said he never volunteered, when in fact
he
did, and it was well before his flight physical ran out, it was actually
reportedly done as he was finishing his training:

"Toward the completion of his training Bush volunteered for overseas
duty as
part of the "Palace Alert" program which sent qualified F-102 pilots in
the
Guard to Europe, the Far East, and occasionally to Vietnam." (from
previously cited source)



Your continual dodging about trying to rejustify yourself is pointless.
He
volunteered. He had a valid flight physical at that time. Admit it,
George,
you were wrong.

I'm sorry, but whether or not you agree, what I said was essentially
accurate.
He may have had a valid flight physical when he volunteered but when he
allowed
it to expire without taking the trouble of renewing it, he knew that he
wasn't
even going to be tapped for one of those fat non-combat berths he wanted
in
Europe or the Far East, much less for one in VN where people were exposed
to the
possibility of dying. Those are facts and they are accurate and it was
dishonest to volunteer and then remove himself from eligibility by an
overt act
on his part. He volunteered and then made sure that nothing would come of
it by
letting his flight physical expire and not doing anything about replacing
it
with a current one.

If I'm too hard on him, it's because I was a military pilot and I know
what he
did and I can't make excuses for him under those circumstances.

I can't stop you from thinking it wasn't like that, but it's naive and
unrealistic on your part to hold that view.

George, his flight phsical did not run out until sometime in 1972--he
volunteered for Palace Alert while he was finishing training in early 1970.
By the time his physical ran out Palace Alert was no longer sending ANG
F-102 pilots to Vietnam/Thailand, and in fact the ANG was already starting
to dump its F-102's entirely (IIRC the majority were retired by mid 1974).
So I still don't see what you are griping about--he volunteered while he was
completing his Combat Crew training in the F-102, and he remained qualified
in the F-102 throughout the remaining period that Palace Alert was sending
ANG folks overseas. Apparently he was told upon volunteering, "Thanks, but
no thanks--we have enough experienced (1000 hour plus) F-102 pilots asking
for this duty so wea re not taking LT's straight out of the schoolhouse."
You admitted earlier that you had never even heard of Palace Alert, but now
you are in a position to judge GWB's volunteer status in that regard without
realizing that you apparently had your timeline out of whack? If you want to
condemn him for not being the best officer they ever had in the 111th FG
based upon his overall service record, fine, that is a matter of opinion for
you to decide--but trying to claim that he never volunteered, or that he
volunteered and then figuratively shot himself in the foot via his flight
physical to avoid having to meet that voluntary requirement, is just plain
false, and the factual timeline does not support that assertion.

Brooks


George Z.

It doesn't gall (please note the correct spelling of the word) me at all
to
admit that I'm wrong, but on this subject the one who knows nothing
about
it is
you. But, of course, you wouldn't admit that, would you. No, I
thought
not.

George Z.