Robey Price wrote:

After an exhausting session with Victoria's Secret Police, Orval
Fairbairn confessed the following:

No -- it is a much simpler answer. Since AL ANG was transitioning from
RF-84Fs to RF-4s, they would, naturally, place their most senior pilots
(Capt's, Maj's, Lt col's, etc) ahead of a lowly short timer Lt (he had
only a short remaining duty obligation) transferring in from Texas.

The pedant in me must point out, GWB did not "transfer" from the TX
ANG to the AL ANG. He merely got permission to drill in AL while
retaining his TX ANG affiliation for reporting purposes.

He didn't get permission.

His request was denied.

He left TX anyway.

He would have
ZERO chance of flying the RF-4 regardless of rank.

The most likely scenario was that GWB put in a little (we're talking
VERY little) "VFR face time," but literally didn't do anything but
walk around unsupervised, drink coffee, have mock dog-fights with his
right hand shooting the watch on his left wrist while telling, "There
I was..." stories.

Having said that, you are correct that a guy with very little
obligation left would NOT normally check out in the next airplane,
doing so adds another two or three years to your service obligation.

As I understand it, the RF-4 checkout program was several months long.
The AL ANG simply didn't want to use their resources on him.

Back then the B (as in Basic) course for Fighter/Attack/Recce pilots
was six months. The Tx (Transition) course for guys coming from
similar missions would run approximately three months...that's if you
attended RTU fulltime (back then that would have been with the 363d
TRW at Shaw AFB). Local checkouts, part-time would take longer.

But the proper conclusion is not that the AL ANG didn't want to use
their resources (RTU slots) on GWB, but rather GWB had ZERO reason to
expect/anticipate flying the RF-4. It's not applicable in his case.

Juvat

--
"The tyranny of a prince is not so dangerous to the public welfare as
the apathy of a citizen in a democracy."
- Baron de Montesquieu, 1748