WP: Why Bush* Stopped Flying in Guard Unclear

[kskiska]

Having Expressed Desire to Be a Lifetime Pilot, He Gave Up His Wings in 1972

Texas Air National Guard Lt. George W. Bush was eager to fly fighter jets and settled into the role nicely, filling out the image with a fast sports car, a Houston bachelor pad and a brisk social life. The recent Yale graduate also was a quick study, excelling at high-speed aerial maneuvers and thinking on his feet, fellow pilots said.

But after several years of impressing his instructors at Houston's Ellington Field, Bush suddenly decided to drop it all in 1972. After hundreds of hours at the helm of an F-102 interceptor and declaring that he wanted to make flying a lifetime pursuit, Bush opted out, skipped a required flight medical exam, and left the state.

President Bush's service in the Air National Guard more than 30 years ago has sparked renewed political controversy as Democratic critics have said in recent days that Bush shirked his duty when he left Texas and transferred to a Guard unit in Alabama. On Feb. 13, the White House released hundreds of pages from Bush's military records to try to quell the critics.

(snip)

The records show only that Bush was suspended from flying for failing to take a required flight physical. Although many pilots would be crushed to lose their wings -- a former high-ranking Guard official said people have committed suicide because of it -- Bush just walked away.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60817-2004Feb21.html

[burrowowl]

1. Because,

he was on coke. Simple.

[Tom Kitten]

2. my sentiments exactly...

he himself admitted he was a party boy until age 40...

[tinrobot]

6. The real thing...

...coke is.

He blew off the physical because they instituted drug testing. He would have tested positive for coke. Simple as that.

It also explains why he developed a sudden interest in helping inner city youths around the same time. Community service is a common way for rich boys to escape jail time for drug offenses.

[Stephanie]

8. Isn't he the first US President with a criminal record?

I think he is.

[swinney]

37. First with criminal record YES

YES

SILVER STAR vs TEXAS SOUFFLE

[happyslug]

73. No, George Washington beat him to it

After the battle of Fort Necessity, Washington admitted to have Murdered the French Party that he had meet a few weeks before. In a parlay, the French had showed up and told Washington to leave. After that parlay, Washington left and than returned to the French Camp and killed them while they were sleeping (France and England were at peace at the time, the War for Independence would be 20 years later). When the main French force appeared they attacked Washington in Fort Necessity. After about a day of shooting, Washington surrendered. As part of the Surrender Washington had to turn over one of his scouts to the French (The Scout had been warned NOT to return to French Claimed territory and was to executed for violating that warning) AND Washington had to admit to have murdered the first group of Frenchmen. When Washington returned to Virginia he claimed this was a translation mistake, he had only admitting to "Killing" the Frenchmen but it is clear on the record he had been told the word would be Murder not killing. Thus Washington is a CONFESSED MURDER.

Also in Bedford County Pennsylvania in the 1790s (When he was President) Washington was charged with the crime of Bastardy. Under that common law crime it was possible to buy your way out of it (Which Washington did). Thus Washington avoided being convicted of the crime but he still had to pay.

Thus Washington is the first President with a Criminal Record BEFORE he was President and the First President Charged with a Crime while he was President.

[TruthIsAll]

16. Well, I guess this story has legs after all...

People who say its dead are quite premature; it takes time to digest the facts and move forward.

[librechik]

31. indeed, it is the Spongebob Squarepants of stories

Beat it up and squash it, it bounces back. Squeeze it and it leaks and leaks!

I love Spongebob.

[seabeyond]

27. time he started community service

i think it was winter of 72 he was busted for coke and got community service and had to stay in houston and couldnt do guards at that time

[happyslug]

74. Not my experience with Guard Service and Prison

When I was In the National Guard we had several members who were serving time in Prison. When we had our two weeks they were released from Prison and served their two weeks Annual duty. Now these Guardsmen were in County Jails and Medium Security prisons (People in Maximum Security Prisons were NOT released for National Guard Training).

Thus the Criminal Justice System will permit people to do their National Guard Duty even while serving time (With the Exception if you are in a Maximum Security Prison. Now we rarely saw the people who were serving time in Jail and Medium Security Prisons for the weekend drills, but for anything longer such people were picked up (The Full Timers in the Unit would pick them up just prior to the drill date and return them at the end of the drill). Thus given that Bush, at worse, was doing community service, I can not see that service from preventing him from doing his National Guard Service. He was absent without leave for some other reason than any community service he was preforming. Could he have been drying out?

[shooga]

35. got coke?

http://noni.freeyellow.com

[shanti]

62. that's it

no other answer. he couldn't pass the drug test.

[BigDaddyLove]

64. I think he wasn't concerned much because the Guard......

served it's purpose; it got him out of Vietnam.

Once he was in no danger of heading East, he didn't need the cover anymore.

[ochazuke]

3. Here's a guess

He wanted to be a pilot. That seems a natural ambition for a man of his ability and thrill-seeking personality. But his parents pushed him into politics. First step: work for that guy's senate campagin. Later on, they get him to run for congress. You know how it ends. Hey, it's the family business!

[diamond14]

4. "But his parents pushed him into politics" so he had to go AWOL?

wow...that's a convoluted reason to leave the Texas Air National Guard...first time I heard that his parents were forcing him to go AWOL..in order to enter politics??

IMO, it's a liability to go AWOL if you want to enter politics...I would expect shrub's parents to have ENCOURAGED him to complete his service first, rather than desert for politics...

[slor]

9. Ummm, no...

it was the nose candy that prompted his departure. This is the subplot that I am hoping will finally see the light.

[ochazuke]

11. What's the nose candy? <eom>

[SoCalDem]

13. cocaine.....

:)

[diamond14]

12. hoping that Houston is finding the 'community service' records...

maybe someone already has them...maybe the actual court records are stored away somewhere soon to be found....

[lazarus]

18. Or possibly

One of the young men he worked with at Project P.U.L.L.

[DemBones DemBones]

14. His father, a WWII pilot, suggested he walk away from

his military service and his career as a pilot to work on a campaign? Because. . . what? There wouldn't be any campaigns for him to work on after he finished his commitment to his country?

Dad thought it would look great on Junior's record to quit flying and skip out on the rest of his military commitment? Dad didn't know that, after completing flight school, Junior had signed a promise to fly for at least five years? Dad, a Congressman at the time, didn't know how much it cost the National Guard to train a pilot and figured it was no big deal if Junior blew off his commitment?

:eyes:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

30. Family tradition

His father also deserted his commitment when he bailed from his plane over the ocean and allowed his crew to crash and die (WWII).

It never falls far from the tree... :nuke:

[Toots]

34. Funny Senator Kerry had the same inclination but he is still

a Pilot. Senator Kerry still flys around a bit and still rides a motorcycle and still engages in politics. I guess some people can do more than one thing at a time.

[leesa]

38. Doubtful. He wanted to imitate his Dad, probably, but I doubt he wanted

to fly. It always struck me as odd that he did not fly (to my knowledge) after the ANG. Most pilots seem to be nearly obsessed with flying and never give it up because they love it.

[kskiska]

65. My dad, former B-17 co-pilot in WWII, is 83 now.

He got his license to fly the very day he qualified – age 16 or so. He flew bombing raids over Germany in WWII, spent a year in a POW camp, was in the Air Force Reserve for quite a while, and still hangs out at an airport in Connecticut just about every day with a few other WWII vets. They still fly once in a while, too, mostly just to another airport to have lunch. If * really wanted to fly, he'd still be doing it.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. WP keeping the issue open --

[Stephanie]

7. Fantastic

I thought he had wriggled off the hook. I had to explain to someone tonight that YES, they released 400 pages of records, but the records didn't prove ANYTHING. People don't know this, because of the Friday night/holiday weekend release and no followup.

[JoFerret]

36. Still has legs

...and the legs seem to lead to the community service/ cocaine story that Hatfield outlined.
http://www.shortnews.com/shownews.cfm?id=37092&u_id=56352&CFID=293745&CFTOKEN=15205369

...and then there is the Robin Lowman / abortion branch.

[willat]

43. Hmmm

I was watching the news shows today, but haven't seen anything about it.

[SoCalDem]

10. It's the plants, I tell ya..

In an interview he gave once, he told of using his guard plane to "ferry plants" from Florida to the agricultural compnay he worked for.. Brother Marvin went too.. (wasn't his plane a one-seater?)..

1)what WERE those plants? ..(early 70's was DRUG culture times 50)
2)did he get busted for that stunt and get taken off duty?
3)did he use his own plane, or "borrow" another guard plane?(where did marvin sit)
4) was bath involved in the "plant transfer"?

He said it himself, and yet no one has followed this trail of crumbs..

[SoCalDem]

15. Found one of the links..

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush072899.htm

At Height of Vietnam, Bush Picks Guard


By George Lardner Jr. and Lois Romano
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 28, 1999; Page A1


...snip...

Once or twice a month, Bush would announce that he had flight duty and off he would go, sometimes taking his F-102 from Houston to Orlando and back. "It was really quite amazing," Knudtzon said. "Here was this young guy making acquisitions of tropical plants and then up and leaving to fly fighter planes."

Bush learned the ropes quickly, putting in long hours, and fitting in smoothly – but this wasn't the place for the impatient young man. He would later refer to his time at Stratford as a dull coat-and-tie job. Within weeks he was talking to Gow and Knudtzon about his future, questioning, searching – but never coming to any firm conclusion. His bosses recall today that he was weighing whether he should pursue public service or stick it out in the business arena to build some security.

Bush stayed at Stratford only about nine months, and by fall 1971 he was flirting – albeit very briefly – with running for the state legislature. The Houston Post reported the possibility in a story that misnamed him "George Bush Jr."

...snip..

[WildClarySage]

17. "impatient young [men]"

don't take up gardening for a hobby.

[Crachet2004]

28. The plants story is plain weird...

But how to take it any further? It is SO damn weird-and since it came from Bush's own mouth-that it may be a false trail...or if not false, lets just say, impossible to prove-an extremely cold trail, at best. But if someone can do something with it-GREAT!

The CONVICTION is the hot trail, I think. There have to be people alive from the P.U.L.L. days who remember him doing the community service-a lot of them I should think. He would have run his mouth about who he was and how the whole thing was just a skate for him. Salon reports the service took place at the "MLK jr. Community Cntr., in Houston's 3rd ward"...although the executive director denies Bush did community service there. So...that is only one womans word as far as I am concerned. Was anyone else there? Madgelean Bush-no relation, they say-as executive director may just want to deflect attention away from the Cntr. for the good of the Cntr. Or the Cntr. may not have been told it was a community service sentence...but we know it had to be! George Bush was not working with Black kids back then for any altruistic reason! We have his modis opperandi! We know better! Yet he was there. He was doing time. And I will bet he bragged about it, to someone at that CNTR., in those days.

The conviction involves a paper trail. Court proceedings should be a matter of public record. He got a new DL and a New SS#...all of which was done on paper, back then. The fact there were two of them-Bush and Bath-shows me it could not have been a dui, which is the excuse I expect them to trot out if someone gets too close. I would not assume every trace has been destroyed...we saw how hard that is for them with his Guard files! If there is a paper trail, maybe someone with skip-tracing skills could be of service.

[rapier]

19. WHAT ABOUT HIS LOW BLOOD PRESSURE

I wonder how his low blood pressure figures into this, if at all. I always assumed his ultra low blood pressure, revealed with the pretzel black out, was something that he always had and if so how he even got to be a pilot?

As most know blackout is a huge danger to modern figher pilots because of the high G forces and even those old 50's planes were still capable of stressing pilots.

Maybe back then the low blood pressure situation didn't exist in him or maybe it was marginal, enough to let him get in. It seems almost impossible that a medical condition would be covered up for the favored one since that could kill him. Still one wonders why he up and quit. Most pilots keep flying, especially if they have the money to do it. Money is no object to the Bush's. (Which is a seperate issue, their money is so wrapped up in complex corporate structures and trusts it's impossible to measure.) One story recently said a few years latter W flew a family turboprop plane often but for the most part his flying after the Guard is invisible. He went from loving flying to quitting, just like that. Weird.

One speculation I have is that the blood pressure thing developed in this period, he had an incident in a plane that scared the crap out of him so he left. The absent physical might be related. He knew he had a problem, and didn't want it revealed, Now why he would want to cover this up, who knows?

Anyway could some enterprising DU'er with medical knowlege or access to those that have it do some study on his exact condition now, vis a vis the low blood pressure and find out if it might have been an issue back then. I'd bet anything that he COULDN"T get a pilots licence now.

I'm shocked that this hasn't been looked into before. Not shocked the mainstream hasn't, they are very lazy and exceedingly dumb but we have some good opposition people and nobody as far as I know has put these two things together.

[plaguepuppy]

23. He was just using the coke to treat his low B/P

But seriously, covering up this little mess is what J.H. Hatfield died for. Lets give up some props for those who pay the price for telling the truth too soon:

http://www.namebase.org/sources/dY.html

http://eserver.org/bs/reviews/2001-2-1-12.11PM.html

http://www.davidcogswell.com/Essays/DeathHatfield.html

[LiberalFighter]

52. Remember when gw* claimed that...

he had not used any illegal drugs during the previous 25 years, or since 1974?

Shouldn't he had denied using illegal drugs ever? Since it would had prevented him from enlisting if he had used drugs prior to his enlistment. What would be the result of his using illegal drugs during his 6 year service? That should had been made an issue about the distinction of not using illegal drugs since 1974 vs. 1968 or some other time period.

1946 Born
1964 18 years old
1968 Graduate from Yale
1968 Enlisted in ANG
1973 Released from ANG??
1974 6 year service ends
1999 States had not used any illegal drugs during previous 25 years

[seabeyond]

63. and then

he had to count on his fingers if he could make 25 years

[reprobate]

48. Some with hypotension tend to be adrenolin junkies.

They need the thrills to keep them up. Coke would also be a means to moderate hypotension. Perhaps he was using the coke to self medicate, but that would show up in high flight physical, so he was caught either way. Purely speculation, but there is some medical truth in there.

[leftchick]

20. Any mention of the Drug Tests started in 1972....

in the article? I am not registered and can't see the whole thing.

[0007]

21. Maybe Robin didn't want him to fly anymore because she was pregnant?

Ya know they were in love, LOL!!?

[NNN0LHI]

22. Because he knew the draft was ending and didn't need the TANG no more

And the cocaine in his system too.

Don

[plaguepuppy]

24. Great picture of evil mini-me

From the French edition of Hatfield's book:



http://www.timeli.ch/index.htm

[bushisanidiot]

25. "Bush just walked away." - He is a chickenshit chickenhawk

he didn't want to go into "harms way".. just like when he ran away on 9/11. He should have gone to the white house and took command. he should have held a press conference, but the chickenshit chickenhawk fucking HID in a spider hole!

[saigon68]

26. He didn't want to get his hands dirty

What an evil disgusting hoodlum.

[truth2power]

29. Busted for coke.

I think this is the REAL issue and the AWOL stuff is just a distraction.

Look at the timeline. He stopped flying (didn't take the physical) and then worked (sic) at project PULL. Of course, then, he couldn't be showing up for drills at whatever state he was supposed to be residing in because he was doing court ordered community service. But the AWOL issue, as such, is just tangential to all this.

This is at least circumstantial evidence that he was convicted of cocaine possession. And THIS is where those who have ways of finding out about these things should be looking. Somewhere there is someone who has the relevant documentation.

I think those in the WH are happy as clams to see us continue to hammer on the AWOL issue....was he AWOL or wasn't he? When the real issue is the circumstances surrounding the flight physical/project PULL events.

Someone....somewhere....knows!

[Cooley Hurd]

32. This article doesn't even address the mandatory drug testing...

...that started with the physical that Shrub blew off. That fact alone is key to the question of why he stopped flying.

[gulliver]

33. Puff piece.

The article oesn't mention that no one has asked Bush that question, and that Scott McClellan has repeatedly sidestepped it. Also, the article brings up Bush's "Charge to Keep" book but doesn't mention that Bush said he continued flying with his unit for "several years" after completing training when he actually flew for less than two.

[colonel odis]

39. so why doesn't someone ask mcclellan at tomorrow's briefing:

has governor bush ever been arrested on a cocaine-related charge?

it's a yes or no question. not a real hard one. plus, it would be fun as hell to watch mcclellan try to duck it.

the evidence exists out there somewhere: a judge, the people at the center, the arresting officer, the arrest file, a mug shot. there has to be something somewhere, no matter how clean they think they've shrubbed ..... er, scrubbed it.

[LiberalFighter]

53. I would hope that there is something out there... but...

The judge is probably dead
The arresting officer is probably dead
The arrest file was probably expunged
The mug shot also expunged
The prosecuting attorney is probably dead

The defense attorney was probably James Baker III and he is not talking.

The people at PULL were not likely all in the know as to the reason.
In addition, daddy was on the board.

I don't believe that there is any type of record except for case files. Meaning that if there were more than one case there would not be a piece of paper listing all of the cases that a judge was hearing that day.

[Jose Diablo]

75. Cell inventory of each lock-up in Houston from that that time period

You are correct, there is bound to be a piece of paper, probably gathering dust in a box someplace.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dArKeR]

41. AWOL never flew a jet solo. Drugs was more likely the reason.

I stick to my 6th sense until proven wrong.

[reprobate]

49. If he flew the F-102, he flew solo. It only had one seat.

[dArKeR]

60. I lived next door to a Training Pilot on Oahu, a student pilot is never

allowed to fly solo. I don't know the exact rules/hours but it's same as a civilian student pilot. Only after clear hurdles can you fly solo. Therefore, there are training pilots who had to have flown with AWOL. Where are they?

My neighbor told me that they use A?? for jet training. (forgot).

[RobinA]

72. Ya Got That Right

I still want proof this guy ever flew solo. Until I see it, I'm sticking by my hunch that he's no pilot. Anybody seen any evidence of any check rides (or the military equivalent) or such? I think THAT is the big scandal of this story. "Highly-trained pilot" my left eyeball!!!

[proud patriot]

42. wheeeeeeeeeeeeee !

Right question :D

[Nashyra]

44. How do we e-mail Helen Thomas and ask

her to ask Mccellan or whatever his name is if the reason that * refused his medical was because it was the first time that Mandatory drug testing was implemented in the military. That could start a wave and hopefully these idiots will wake up to the fact that in anybody elses military they can not pick and choose what orders to follow or not follow without repercussions.

[Moaldova]

59. Helen Thomas

You can email Helen Thomas at [e-mail]. She writes for the Heart newspapers. Her phone number is 202-263-6400 and she gratefully accepts any messages.

[seabeyond]

45. social security number

i want to know if it is fact that he had this changed. something we give to our babies now to track them from life, no one no one gets a new one. i want to know why

[leftchick]

46. He had a new driver's license number while in Texas...

I have not heard about the SS number.

[seabeyond]

47. i heard dr lisc

and want that known .........but earlier in a thread heard ss and that is even bigger

[LiberalFighter]

54. I never heard or remember that his SSN was changed...

but from Hatfield's book I remember that his Drivers License number was changed when he became Gov. Purportedly to disconnect any record of previous violations.

[JoFerret]

50. And now the Guardian (UK)

takes up the tale and manages to drop in the mention of the abortion and cocaine bust http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1153543,00.html

[diamond14]

55. WOW....includes the bush* abortion and cocaine bust .....

the TRUTH is being reported....brings joy to the world....

[leftchick]

56. Wow!... From the link.... I didn't know this...

<Flynt's book will be one among many. No fewer than 25 anti-Bush books will be published in the next six months, including titles like Fraud: The Strategy Behind the Bush Lies and The Book on Bush: How George W Misleads America. >

25!! hee, hee... this is getting good! :)

[Thatsthefactjack]

61. With all due respect...

Some Democrat supporters, including the singer Moby, have openly approved of the planting of rumours on the internet about Bush's youth, including a story about a woman forced to have an abortion - there is no proof, but it has already gained wide currency on the internet.

It is important to note that there is no proof about the abortion rumor. I don't think it serves anybody's purposes to be making stuff up that is non-provable. It will only serve to gain Bush more sympathy if stuff like this is thrown around without any credibility whatsoever.

[9215]

66. There is some credibility. Flynt

is suppose to be publishing a book on the matter. If Bush doesn't sue him for slander, or if Flynt dies suddenly, that will make the story true in my book.

But then again I don't need much evidence to try, and convict Bush. I'll give him as much chance as he gave all those innocent Iraqis.

[Bandit]

77. I am not condoning rumor mongering but as the GOP proved in the last

decade it definitely pays dividends. Throw enough stuff out there and people start getting "Fatigued" over all the scandals. Remember "Clinton Fatigue"? Virtually ever single thing they threw at him was disproved but everyone will remember the Clinton Presidency as scandal ridden. I want this Administration to be remembered in the same way only it will be justified.

[9215]

51. This story will not die!!

:bounce: :bounce:


The Press is fiiinallly doing its job. They are getting more dogged in their pursuit of the answers and aren't accepting Scotty Mac's non-answers.

As alot of people have said this should have been done 4 years ago. That is the bigger story IMO. How and why was this story kept subdued?



The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media.
William Colby.
Cited in McGowan, David, Derailing Democracy, Common Courage Press, Monroe, Maine, 1999; from online e-mail bulletin, Political Literacy Course, Common Courage Press, 20 March 2000, www.commoncouragepress.com <http://www.commoncouragepress.com>.


William Colby
This former CIA director disappeared in an apparent boating accident, and a body was later discovered (minus the life jacket Colby's friends insisted he always wore while boating) and buried promptly. John DeCamp, a lawyer from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Colby's close friend and confidant, said Colby's death was not an accident. He stated that Colby was prepared to disclose that missing P.O.W.'s were working for a dope smuggling operation orchestrated by General Colin Powell, Pentagon official Richard Armitage, and George H. W. Bush.

Google: Colby+Powell+DeCamp

[truthisfreedom]

57. BECAUSE BUSH IS A QUITTER! he quit everything he ever did. he takes the

longest and most frequent vacations of any president in history. he even had them quit counting votes so he could be forced in. he quit at every business he ever owned, and had to be bought out by his daddy's friends in those that were "successful." he quit flying, and then he quit the Guard early.

hell, he even quit drinking because he couldn't do that right.

[TacticalPeek]

58. Shrub was not a fighter pilot. He was a quitter pilot.

:evilgrin:

[JoFerret]

67. You can't skip service in Vietnam twice

http://www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125~1511~1972729,00.html

Great Frank Rich article.

[democrat in Tallahassee]

68. I distinctly remember a picture of bush doing community service

on his election web site during the 2000 campaign and I also distinctly remember that it was pulled from the site when news of hatfield's book broke. Is there any way to verify this? I'm fairly sure of my memory but I can't verify it. I even remember what the picture looked like.

[wabeewoman]

69. Pretty disappointing article

I didn't think the WP was keeping the issue alive-seems more like they are offering all the bush excuses as fact and like they think that is the end of it, time to move on. Hasn't the story pretty much died after the paper dump?? I sure haven't seen anything about it-other than this sorry excuse for investigative journalism.

[The_Casual_Observer]

70. a quick study, excelling

Must be some other george bush

[The_Casual_Observer]

71. What the big mystery, he was probably using

some kind of dope and didn't want to get caught

[Skittles]

76. He was coked out of his mind

no f***ing mystery there