I doubt Bush would have been sent however, The F-102 was not exactly
cutting edge and Bush was not a high time pilot ready for combat.
Im sure he would have went if ordered to however.

The F-102 was an interceptor only (rockets in a weapons bay--no guns).
A few went to SE Asia but had almost no role to play. I believe that
most 102 drivers who volunteered were transitioned to other aircraft.
None was ordered to go.

More Guard and Reserve pilots served in Vietnam than I believed at the
time. Sometimes this was units being sent over (the New Hampshire Air
Guard was mobilized every December to fly Christmas mail to SE Asia).
Most often it was individuals volunteering and occasionally being
called to active duty.
'
Bush presumably had as many hours as the average pilot, during his two
years on active duty. In any event, pilots transitioned to other a/c
typically went to a training course (the death rate on the graduates
of these courses was particularly high, sometimes 50 percent--see Ed
Rasimus, When Thunder Rolled www.warbirdforum.com/thunder.htm -- one
of the best combat memoirs I have ever read.) Afterward, during the
several years he was an active member of the Air Guard, his flying
time would have been much less, and in the last year or 18 months it
was evidently non-existent.

Still, his service was longer and more intense than mine, and I
suspect longer and more intense than that of 90 percent of the posters
to this board.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

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