Thursday, February 05, 2004
Honorable Service?
A reader sent this e-mail on George W. Bush's national guard service record:
I agree. An indisputableble fact is that George W. Bush did fly fighter jets, and underwent thousands of hours hazardousous training learning how to do so. No one can argue this aspect of his military service.
After listening to the national Democrats criticize George W. Bush, I think it is time to make available to the voting public what it takes to become a proficient F-102 Delta Dagger fighter pilot. You donÂt just walk onto the nearest Air National Guard base and jump into the seat on an F-102. In point of fact, there is a full flight syllabus, including ground school, basic flight training, probably in a T-28, followed by basic jet training in either a T-33 or T-37, followed by tactical training in the F-102 which would take place at an airbase in Florida, Texas, Arizona, or Nevada. After all this has been successfully completed and after several hundred hours in these types of aircraft, then and only then are you assigned to a squadron. Most of this training takes place while you are on full-time active duty in the Air Force, although you belong to the Air National Guard. (Remember, the United States Air Force is totally responsible for the training and equipment of the Air Guard and always has been.)
Just like the squadrons here in Colorado that fly the F-16s today, the pilots of the era of George W. Bush were just as well trained in their day. It is a mistake to characterize the PresidentÂs military service as just another Reservist who showed up every now and then with no basic training and no military skill and whose only purpose was to avoid danger. One must only look to the number of reserve Guard and Reserve pilots killed each year in training, much less the number who are called up for active duty as they were in the late 1960Âs. (See history of the 140th TFG of Colorado which served in Vietnam from 1968-1970.) Not only were Guard pilots subject to being deployed overseas during Vietnam, they were also subject to being in the thin red line supporting NATO and the defense of Korea.
I agree. An indisputableble fact is that George W. Bush did fly fighter jets, and underwent thousands of hours hazardousous training learning how to do so. No one can argue this aspect of his military service.
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