George W. Bush Military Service Controversy Pallbearers For President Bush

Controversy over , why he lost his flight status, and whether he fulfilled the requirements of his military service contract.

Timeline[]

George W. Bush joined the In his 1968 Statement of Intent (undated), he wrote, "I have applied for pilot training to make flying a lifetime pursuit, and I believe I can best accomplish this to my satisfaction by serving as a member of the Air National Guard as long as possible."

Bush was quoted as saying elsewhere "I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada ..." According to Bush's pay records, he did not attend any drills between mid-April and the end of October 1972. He drilled in Alabama in October and November 1972, and again in January 1973; what duties he performed are unknown. Bush returned to his home unit in Houston and was paid for his service in April 1973 through July 1973; again, what duties he performed are not documented in any way.

On October 1, 1973, Bush was He was discharged from the Air Force Reserve on November 21, 1974, ending his military service.

Acceptance into the Air National Guard[]

During the 1968–1974 period, Presidents

Flight performance and flight status in 1972 and 1973[]

Final flights[]

Flight logs released in September 2004 in response to a lawsuit (see

Flight physical[]

By regulation, all Air Force pilots were required to take and pass an annual physical in order to remain in flight status, in the three months prior to a pilot's birthday (in Bush's case, July 6). Bush did not take this mandatory physical examination in mid-1972. As a result of his failure to take his physical, his flight status was suspended by his commander on August 1, 1972, ^{airport, where Bush was paid for drilling in October and November 1972 and in January 1973, his only drilling dates between April 1972 and April 1973.}

According to his released military records, after April 1972 Bush never flew again as an Air National Guard pilot.

Drill attendance in 1972 and 1973[]

During 2004, and that no AWOL charge had ever been made against Bush by the National Guard.

Released military records show that Bush's documented service record through mid-April 1972 (Bush drilled on the 15th and 16th of that month) was without gaps; the period in question is from May 1972 forward.

Transfer request[]

On May 24, 1972, Bush submitted a form requesting a transfer to the 9921st Air Reserve Squadron in

Equivalent duty in Alabama[]

Bush remained obligated to train with his Texas unit or to perform substitute training elsewhere each month. All of those dates are outside of the period that was claimed for Bush's service in Alabama.

A 2006 column in the also wrote, "A civilian occupation made it necessary for him to move to Montgomery, Ala. He cleared this base on May 15, 1972, and has been performing equivalent training in a non-flying status with the 187 Tac Recon Gp. Dannelly ANG Base, Alabama."

Return to Houston[]

Back in Houston, in late 1972 or early 1973, Bush did unpaid volunteer work for a number of months with an inner-city poverty program, Project P.U.L.L. (Professional United Leadership League), the brainchild of John White, a former professional football player and civic leader. As of the end of July 1973, Bush had been in the Air National Guard for a little over five years.

Six-year service obligation[]

On May 27, 1968, Bush signed a six-year obligation. That required him to complete "48 scheduled inactive-duty training periods" each fiscal year (typically consisting of four four-hour periods during one weekend each month), plus a minimum of 15 days of Annual Active Duty Training. For Bush, as a pilot, this was typically split into periods of duty of a few days each during the year.

The Boston Globe reported in September 2004 that "Bush fell well short of meeting his military obligation." They cite examples of Bush failing to meet Air National Guard commitments in 1972 and 1973. Jerry Killian recommended approval of the discharge the following day. Bush had completed five years, four months, and five days toward his six-year service obligation.

On October 1, 1973, Bush was , Colorado. On November 21, 1974, he was discharged from the Air Force Reserve, ending his military service.

In September 2004,

Release of military records[]

During the 2000 presidential campaign, various military records of Bush were made public by the Bush campaign.

On February 13, 2004, during Bush's re-election campaign, more than 700 additional pages of documents on Bush's service were released, including those from the , that "We did [authorize the release of everything] in 2000, by the way." In response, Bush contended that he was referring only to documents already in his possession, as opposed to the newly released documents from military sources.

On June 22, 2004, The

On September 29, 2004, the White House released a November 1974 document, saying it had been in Bush's personnel file and that the Pentagon had found it.

On October 5, 2004, more than a week after a court-imposed deadline to turn over all records of Bush's military service, the Texas Air National Guard produced two previously unreleased documents (four pages of records) that included Bush's orders for his last day of active duty in 1973.

Memos allegedly from Jerry Killian[]

The "Killian documents" were initially claimed by CBS to have come from the "personal files" of the late Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, Bush's squadron commander during Bush's Air National Guard service.

References[]

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External links[]

• — A number of links to various documents in .PDF format.
• CNN.com – September 14, 2004
• YouTube