GWB and the Air Guard

On Tue, 16 Mar 2004 15:11:49 -0800, Mary Shafer
wrote:

On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 08:27:16 -0700, Ed Rasimus
wrote:

Dino was CANG, not USAF. He wasn't flying out of George.

I thought so, too, but the March site says he was a Reserve officer,
not CANG. However, I now see that this isn't a .mil site, but a .org
site, so maybe it's not as authoritative as I thought it was.

An officer is either "regular" or "reserve". Typically an ANG officer
would be commissioned in the reserve. It's a complicated throw-back
system, and confusing to those who haven't lived under it. There
really isn't any such thing as a National Guard officer--they are a
reserve component. I guess it just helps to confound the political
questions and enhance those who like to posture about GWB not having a
right to wear the nomex.

OK, looking at the IMDB, It was San Gorgonio, not San Antonio. Which
definitely says it wasn't George. That leaves March and CANG as
pretty much the only options, just as you said. I probably got
"George" from "Gorgonio".

Just as an aside, Frank Sinatra's mother was killed when her chartered
bizjet (a Lear, I think) hit the other side of San Gorgonio.

Small world, ain't it.

It might also be noted that John Ryan's son, who got jumped over other
graduates to get him an F-4 slot, killed himself in the airplane, and
Ross Perot's son who got an ANG slot, arguably through political
leverage, was a pretty good airplane driver.

As long as there are people of influence, there will be some
accusations (rightly or wrongly) of favoritism. Some get to places
they shouldn't be and some get there fully qualified.



Mary

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8