Colin Powell on National Guard

In article ,
Cub Driver wrote:

There was a waiting list for those slots at that time, and his application
found
its way to the top of the pile in no time flat and clearly out of turn.

You don't know this. It's only an accusation. Believe me, I read
everything that has been published on the subject of Bush's ANG
service, and there is no evidence that he was vaulted ahead of others.

It may well be true, mind you, but that doesn't give you the right to
repeat a baseless assertion as if it were fact.


"The crew members, supervisors, technicians and support staff.
Sgt. Donald Dean Barnhart, who still serves in the Guard, said that he
kept a waiting list of about 150 applicants' names. He said it took up
to a year and a half for one name to move to the top of the
list. "Quite a few gentlemen were wanting to get in," he recalled. For
Bush, there was no wait. He met with commander Staudt in his Houston
office and made his application-- all before his graduation in
Juner. [LAT, 7/4/99]

"Inquiring about Guard admission, Mr. Bush went to an Air Force
recruiting office near Yale, where he took and passed the test
required by the Air Force for pilot trainees. His score on the pilot
aptitude section, one of five on the test, was in the 25th percentile,
the lowest allowed for would-be flierst. [LAT 7/4/99]

"chief of personnel in the Texas Guard from 1972 to 1980,
remembers no pilot shortage. "We had so many people coming in who
were super-qualified," he said. [LAT 7/4/99]

--
Al Dykes
-----------

"chief of personnel in the Texas Guard from 1972 to 1980,
remembers no pilot shortage. "We had so many people coming in who
were super-qualified," he said. [LAT 7/4/99]

Wonderful!

The Los Angeles Times takes a factoid that explains why Bush went off
flying duty in 1972 and uses it to demean his acceptance in 1968.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (requires authentication)

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

In article ,
(ArtKramr) wrote:


From where I sat, it was a ferocious and threatening display of raw,
confrontational, Executive Branch power. It immediately reminded me of
something I had read in his autobiography in which he wrote:

I am angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well-placed ...
managed
to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units .... Of the many tragedies
of Vietnam, this raw class discrimination strikes me as the most damaging to
the ideal that all Americans are created equal and owe equal allegiance to
their country (Colin Powell, My American Journey, p. 148)


"The only thing we regulars are good for is to keep the guns clean for
your reserves, and to lead you into battle."

Chesty Puller, General, USMC