On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 15:29:00 -0400, "George Z. Bush"
wrote:

Thomas J. Paladino Jr. wrote:

And for the record, when a proposal was floated to send F102s to Vietnam,
Bush put his name in as a volunteer, however the powers that be decided not
to use the plane.

For the same record, when he first applied for flying training, he indicated on
his application that he did NOT desire an overseas assignment.

That's no smoking gun. I did NOT desire an overseas assignment when I
entered the USAF. I did NOT desire an overseas assignment when I chose
the F-105 (there were four wings in the US flying the airplane at the
time.) I did NOT desire an overseas assignment when I got one to Korat
Thailand. I did NOT desire an overseas assignment when I returned from
Korat. In fact, I was in the AF for almost eight years before the
first time I checked that box on the AF form 90. A lot of folks with
and without families for a wide variety of reasons don't indicate a
preference or desire for overseas assignment.

And he had only
300 flying hours in the F-102 when he volunteered for overseas duty after he had
been told that they wouldn't consider anybody with less than 500 hours. It was
a pretty safe thing to do.....asking for something you knew in advance they
weren't going to give you.

And, when I went to war in the F-105 I had 120 hours in the airplane.
When I went to war in the F-4 I had 28 hours in the type and ZERO
hours in the model to which I was assigned. My first flight in an F-4E
was a combat mission. So, there's not much "safety" in volunteering
with a few less hours than required.

That's just for the record, of course.

This is just for the record as well.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
"Phantom Flights, Bangkok Nights"
Both from Smithsonian Books
***www.thunderchief.org