In article YlZTb.171622$5V2.871493@attbi_s53, "old man"
writes:


How come it's not an issue in 1992 and 1996 election.......Clinton was a
real dodger........


Bush's service record is only an issue for those who do not remember the
context.

Vietnam was winding down, the Air Force, like the rest of the military, was in
a Reduction In Force. The F-102 was dangerous and expensive to maintain
compared to more modern fighters and was being phased out of the ANG as the
more modern aircraft became available to reserve units. At the same time,
flying billets were getting scarce even for career Air Force as they were RIFed
down to reserves.

Part timers like Bush were NOT going to be retrained for the more modern
fighters when there were already trained pilots being pushed out of the AF to
the reserves. The Texas ANG was done with Bush and they really didn't care if
he came to meetings or not.

I graduated from dental school the next year, in 1974. I was in the Doctor's
Draft, and was supposed to go to the Army for 2 years on graduation. Many of my
classmates were in ROTC and were obligated for 6 years because their education
had been paid for by the military. None of us went because the military no
longer needed as many dentists. Dentists who wanted to stay in were getting
RIFed out.

At that time, the National Guard and reserve units were being used more as a
transition from active duty to civilian life for career servicemen trying to
hang in long enough for their pensions, and those who were not going to make it
to retirement were pushed out to save space for those who needed the billets.

So, in the context of the times, there is nothing out of the ordinary or in any
way privleged in Bush's record. Rather, had he been retrained for the
replacement aircraft while officers already trained in them were getting RIFed
out, that would have been a sign of influence in action.

Don

--
Wm. Donald (Don) Tabor Jr., DDS
PP-ASEL
Chesapeake, VA - CPK, PVG