On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 07:41:40 -0700, Ed Rasimus
wrote:

On Wed, 4 Feb 2004 19:26:19 -0500, "George Z. Bush"
wrote:


I don't know who you were talking about, since I don't read Kramer's stuff any
more. I was responding to comments made by Tony and, for whatever reason I think
too unimportant to seek out, it led me to believe that there was a reference to
comments made about our President's military aviation career.


The incident you refer to after four years of flying service including
UPT, operational qualification in the F-102 and achieving operational
alert status in the TANG was a request for four months detached duty
at Montgomery while working on a political campaign. The New York
Times has reported the corrected details of the events. Bush was
unable to meet commitments. He requested and received approval to make
up drill periods at a later time. This is standard ANG procedure.

He was current in a "combat aircraft in use in Viet Nam". The F-102
(including ANG crews) was deployed at Udorn, Danang and Tan Son Nhut
among other place.

If I was an F-102 pilot who was hot to trot, I think I might have volunteered to
transition into one of the birds actively used in the shooting war, like the
F-105, or whatever equipment they were then using for top covers.

"Top covers"?? What the hell are they? Do you mean MiGCAP? Not a
specialized mission for most of the war, usually flown by F-4s.
Primary job was ground attack, not traditional "fighter" against
"fighter" stuff. F-102s were deployed for airbase defense intercept
duty throughout the war.

Remember, Bush was ANG, not active force, hence he would have needed
to move out of state and establish residence to find a unit with one
of those aircraft types, which would probably not have gotten him
deployed anyway. Your whole postulate is a non-starter here.

So, follow the thread, contribute relevantly, get your facts straight,
and reduce the level of your personal agenda.

Would you care to comment on his submission of a "volunteer for o/s duty"
statement when he knew or should have known that he had insufficient flying time
in the bird to be favorably considered? All he had to do was to ask around, and
he'd have learned that they wanted people with more hours than he had. Excuse
me if I conclude that he was just going through the motions but I can't think
of any other reason for volunteering for something you know you're not going to
get.

Volunteering means a requirement exists and if your volunteer
statement is accepted, you are eligible. There might have been a
"desired" hours requirement, but it was a long way from "hard and
fast" if you were current in the system.

I flew my first F-105 combat to NVN, right out of training with less
than 120 hours after undergraduate pilot training. I flew my first F-4
combat, again to NVN with less than 30 hours in the F-4C (the combat
was in the F-4E).

I don't think lack of hours was any sort of protection from
deployment.
dont forget that we were putting tanker pilots into F-105 aircraft
also. And correct me if im wrong, but the biggest contribution that
the reserves/ANG had to make to the effort during the 50-70's were the
pilots. Even in Korea ANG pilots would just transition into the newer
aircraft.Aircraft may be different, but tactics pretty much reamin the
same. But saying that, i wouldnt want a Air/AIr guy all of a sudden
moving mud. But i can understand what Ed is saying. It wasnt until
1970's with the A-7 that the Reserves/ANG got first line equipment


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8