"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote in message
om...
"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
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"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote in message
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During the Vietnam War, National Guard troops stayed in the US
and were only activated for natural disasters and riot control.


That's not correct. On May 13, 1968, 12,234 Army National Guardsmen in
20
units from 17 states were mobilized for service during the Vietnam War.
Eight units deployed to Vietnam. One of them, Company D (Ranger), 151st
Infantry, Indiana National Guard, earned distinction as one of the most
highly decorated combat units of the war.

On January 25, 1968, eight ANG Tactical Fighter Squadrons and three
Tactical
Reconnaissance Squadrons were mobilized. A second callup on April 11
added
two Tactical Fighter Squadrons and an Aeromedical Airlift Squadron.
Four of
the fighter squadrons served in combat in Vietnam, flying F-100Cs.


Thanks.

Were those the only Guardsmen deployed in Vietnam. IF so,
T\that would mean that less than 5% of the troops who
served the US in Vietnam were activated National Guard. I
(also) don't know how many Guardsnmen there were in the US
but I will be careful in the future to say that _almost_
no guardsmen were deployed in Vietnam.

No, that is not all of the deployed Guardsmen. In addition to the deployed
units, at least one activated unit (an infantry brigade out of Hawaii) found
itself transferring troops out as individual replacements destined for
Vietnam. In addition, there were troops and officers from the Guard who
volunteered individually for active duty and saw service in Vietnam.

LBJ failed to activate the Guard and Reserve early in the conflict because
he was afraid of the political backlash--but as the war drew down the lesson
that had been learned was that failing to activate in larger measure the
reserve components had actually been a factor that adversely affected
support at the root level of the nation for the effort. Hence Abrams
returned from commanding MACV to assignment as Army C/S and immediately
instituted the "Total Army" program which saw the reserve components so
enmeshed in the operational fabric of the service that it would be
impossible to embark on any future major military endeavor without
conducting significant mobilizations at the outset.

And be careful casting any "broad brush" strokes regarding the Guard during
Vietnam; while there were undoubtedly some folks in the Guard who thought
that was a way for them to serve without their likely having to go to
Vietnam, there were also a lot of veterans who had joined the Guard well
before the Vietnam conflict, many of whom had been Korean War veterans, and
all returning Vietnam veterans did not immediately run for the nearest VVAW
chapter either--many joined local Guard units (my brother returned from his
combat tour and immediately joined the Guard).




My guess is that he was such a crappy pilot his commander in TX
was glad to see him quit flying befor he screwed his aircraft
into the ground.


One of his instructors stated not long ago that his flying skills were
better than average.

Then my guess would be wrong, which is a chronic problem with guessing.
Can you name the instructor, or recall where you heard/read that?

Maurice Udell was the name given in the newspapers just this week:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/p...namechoes.html

Brooks


Although I am far more concerned with how he conducts himself today
as President than with how he conducted himself back then, it never
hurts to know facts.

--

FF