WP: Many Gaps in Bush*s Guard Records (Milbank/Allen)

[kskiska]

Released Papers Do Not Document Ala. Service

(snip)

The White House, seeking to quell a revived controversy over Bush's Guard service, released hundreds of pages of records that were previously withheld. The documents include what the White House describes as all the non-medical elements of Bush's military personnel file, including performance evaluations, documentation of his honorable discharge, and a thick bureaucratic paper trail of applications, promotions and transfers.

The records show Bush was an eager fighter pilot who said he wanted to spend a lifetime in aviation, but they provide no evidence that he did any military service in Alabama, to which he had requested a transfer in May 1972 to work on a Senate campaign, which ended in November 1972. Bush signed a statement in 1968 saying he had "applied for pilot training with the goal of making flying a lifetime pursuit." And his superiors applauded his work.

A 1971 evaluation said Bush had the potential to "promote well ahead of his contemporaries" and added: "Lt. Bush's main strengths are his eagerness to participate in the unit's activities and his ability to work harmoniously with others." A 1970 letter recommending him for a promotion from second to first lieutenant called him "a dynamic outstanding young officer" who "clearly stands out as a top notch fighter interceptor pilot."

"Lt Bush is possessed of sound judgment, yet is a tenacious competitor and an aggressive pilot," said the letter from Jerry B. Killian, then a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Air National Guard. "He is mature beyond his age and experience level."

But the tone of Bush's military file changed abruptly, and with no documented explanation, in May 1972, when Bush sought to transfer to Alabama. That began a period of months in which, the documents suggest, Bush did not actively pursue Guard service and the Guard did not actively pursue him.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40964-2004Feb13.html

[NNN0LHI]

1. Sounds like he found out he liked cocaine around May '72 to me n/t

[wellstone_democrat]

2. more like "found out it liked him!"

and wanted to "stay" with our boy everyday!


I was told as I left the office today that "all the files were released. It was all untrue."

Funny, I'm still not seeing that...

ON EDIT: still no clue as to why that "eager beaver" headed for the fast track got out as a 1st Lt rather than the standard Captain! I'm still waiting for that to be mentioned outside DU....

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. most who have never served do not know them details

this eager beaver should have left as an O-3 and if he was THAT impressive, why not an O-4? (Major) Rare, but if he was such an eager beaver with the damn connections... why not?

[Gman]

4. Exactly what I was going to say

that little chop-chop-chop on the mirror, eh George?

[kskiska]

3. Seems to be his M.O.

Even when Poppy set him up in a cushy job, even on the board of directors, he'd start out as an "eager beaver," then after a couple months he'd get bored and slack off, then quit, then Poppy would set him up in another.

[truth2power]

6. Bush's characteristic of being easily bored

is mentioned frequently around here. He, himself even talks about how he is bored by newspapers, bored by meetings etc. etc.

Proneness to boredom is one of the defining characteristics of the anti-social personality.

Look here: http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/psychopath.html

[belle]

19. Let's just run down that psychopath list, shall we?

Glibness/superficial charm.

"The real question is, how many hands have i shaked?" Check.


Grandiose sense of self-worth.

"Looka me! I'm a flyboy! Take my picture, but don't expect me to hold a press conference!" CHECK.


Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom

As noted above, check.


Pathological lying

Like, every word that's ever come out of his mouth...CHECK.


Conning/manipulative

That goes with lying and charm...check.


Lack of remorse or guilt

"I don't change." CHECK.


Shallow affect

"The first thing I thought was, "Boy, that's one terrible pilot." Check.


Callous/lack of empathy

Karla Faye Tucker, bird hunting, his every damn policy...CHECK.


Parasitic lifestyle

Off his family and its connections, and later his government perks...sure. Check.


Poor behavioral controls

Rumor has it. Sure seems to have a temper on him behind that thick wall of handlers. I'd say: Check.


Promiscuous sexual behavior

Jury's still out on this one, and as far as I'm concerned it can *stay* that way. Euch.


Early behavior problems

Bigtime. He was a drunken party boy till he was forty, for heaven's sake. Poor grades, those cute little arrests...Check.


Lack of realistic, long-term plans

*How* were we going to get out of Iraq, again? And, those jobs you keep referring to? And what was that about "defeating terror?" CHECK.


Impulsivity

Probably, not clear what they mean here. His every move is scripted these days, so it's hard to tell.


Irresponsibility

Hello, AWOL, month-long vacations...CHECK.


Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

CHECK! It's *never* his fault. Not even remotely. Nothing. Ever, ever.


Many short-term marital relationships

No.


Juvenile delinquency

Well, there were those cute little wreath-stealing arrests mentioned above; this of course does not include the allegations of DUI and coke. And oh yeah, the blowing up frogs business. Check.


Revocation of conditional release

Not sure what this means, I think not applicable.


Criminal versatility (Hare, 1986)

Dunno what this means in this context.

***

So let's add them up; survey SAYS:
15/20. At LEAST.

[annagull]

5. Imagine, the WH puts out useless info!

I am so glad the press has somehow found their courage, I only hope they continue.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

7. Don't get snowed. Every officer is recommended to be promoted

"ahead of his contemporaries". It's standard boilerplate, and to NOT have it is the kiss of death to a young officer's career. This was especially during the early 1970s, when Officer Evaluation Rating (OER) inflation hit new highs.

I was on active duty from '72 thru '76, and in the Guard and Reserves thereafter, and OERs tended to be like one of those jokes where you pick a phrase from Column One, another from Column Two, and another from Column Three, and end up with some meaningless gobbledy-gook that sounds significant.

The only things that matter are: (1) why did Bush* choose to blow off the '72 flight physical, and what were the repercussions, and (2) how does he justify walking away from a $1 million investment in his flight training by the taxpayers after only two years of a four year commitment?

[Skittles]

9. when I was a two striper I wrote some OERs for a Major

who hated writing them. You are correct; there were plenty of "standard lines". :D

wait - I think recall them being OPRs (Officer Performance Report) ?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. Well, if he was arrested for the cocaine possession charge

He probably had no choice but to suspend from flight, and shut up and do his Community Service, and
the services have never had a problem with people who they did not want to fly anymore wasting all that training money. it is only when the individual wants to stop flying that they bring up the cost of the training.

[Thor_MN]

15. You said "Snowed." And Blow... Heh, heh. heh...

And so did *...

[calimary]

8. Still evidently a somewhat limited release.

Just saw on MSNBC (Chris Matthews) that the papers were presented but nobody was allowed to take them out of the room. Reporters were allowed to look through them and take notes, but couldn't take them home to spend any time digesting them. What-the-hell kind of "release of everything" is THAT?!?!?

[TacticalPeek]

13. That was my initial impression, but only the medical recs were done

in the 'cloak and dagger' style as Tweety put it. The personnel files were released (supposedly comprehensive) and cabletv shows reporters plowing through them. David Gregory had his paws full of them as he talked to Matthews.

I look forward to a complete post of them somewhere on the net.

Bottom line, according to TV, no new evidence for AL attendance.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Better late than never????

Well at least the US Press is now all over this story.

And yes it sounds to me like the kid had a problem in a piss test, aka a drug test.

[TacticalPeek]

14. Something so bad, in fact repulsive, that his NG enablers revolted and

switched him off the promotion track.

Something so bad it not only gummed up his greased skids, but also required additional capital expenditure from Poppy's political account.

Absent a dead girl in bed, or live boy, that leaves only one suspect: DOPE.


:evilgrin:

[EarlG]

16. Hmmm... 1972?

Here's what this State Department website says he was doing in 1972:

George W. graduated from Yale in May of 1968 with a major in history. Two weeks before graduation, he went to the offices of the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Air Force Base outside Houston to sign up for pilot training. One motivation, he said, was to learn to fly, as his father had done during World War II. George W. was commissioned as a second lieutenant and spent two years on active duty, flying F-102 fighter interceptors. For almost four years after that, he was on a part-time status, flying occasional missions to help the Air National Guard keep two of its F-102s on round-the-clock alert.

http://usembassy.state.gov/seoul/wwwhe905.html

Four years eh? That would put him flying occasional F-102 missions for the TANG between 1970 and 1974. We know that's bullshit.

Next page:

During this period, George W. worked for a former partner of his father's, who had left the oil-drilling business to start an agricultural company in Houston that had interests in a wide variety of things, from cattle and chickens to tropical plants. George's job was to travel around the United States and to countries in Central America looking for plant nurseries his company might want to acquire.

In the spring of 1972, he left this job and went to Alabama to work on the unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Winton Blount. Returning to Houston, he became a counselor for African-American youngsters in a program called PULL (Professional United Leadership League). The program brought together volunteers from the athletic, entertainment, and business worlds to work with young people in a variety of ways. George taught basketball and wrestling and organized field trips to juvenile prisons, so his young charges could see that side of life and resolve not to end up there themselves.

http://usembassy.state.gov/seoul/wwwhe906.html

So why would Bush suddenly take time off from traveling "around the United States and to countries in Central America" to start counseling African-American youngsters at Project PULL, coincidentally around the same time he was not showing up for medical tests and his Guard career started to crash and burn?

Two words: COMMUNITY SERVICE.

[stevedeshazer]

17. There it is

Great find, EarlG.

That's the only logical explanation. Question is, WHY was he relegated to community service? Can't be good for Bushie.

[kskiska]

18. Helen Thomas nailed Scottie on this yesterday

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/

(snip)

Q: Did the President ever have to take time off from Guard duty to do community service?

Scott McClellan: To do community service? I haven't looked into everything he did 30 years ago, Helen. Obviously, there is different community service he has performed in the past, including going back to that time period --

Q: Can you find out if he actually had --

Scott McClellan: Helen, I don't think we remember every single activity he was involved in 30 years ago.

Q: No, this isn't an activity. Was he forced to do community service at any time while he was on --

Scott McClellan: What's your interest in that question? I'm sorry, I just --

more…

[belle]

20. OOoh. But she still hasn't come right out and said the "c" word, right?

Please, please, let that be next...SOON.

[JoFerret]

25. Community service, community service

Thanks Helen. keep up the questions. Community service? Did he ever and why? Does he recall?

[LiberalFighter]

27. Helen should had snipe at Scott boy with

WE..... don't care about what you remember. WE..... want to know what bush* remembers. YOU.... weren't there when it happened. bush* was there when it happened not YOU....

[EarlG]

21. Don't thank me...

Raul Groom nailed it in our lead article yesteday:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/04/02/13_guard.html

[truth2power]

22. Thoughts on this please?

This has been nagging at me for some time. This Project PULL issue. Who were the people who were running that program back then? Surely that information is out there somewhere.

If a person is running a community program and someone comes to them who has been court-ordered, aren't they apprised of that? It seems to me that there would have to be some system of monitoring, at the site, whether the individual shows up and participates as ordered.

I would think that someone who knows how to research these things could find someone who was privy to the information about Bush's reason for being there. Unless, of course, they've already been "Baxterized".

I agree, BTW, that it would have been totally out of character for Bush to have suddenly given up his flight status to "focus" (in itself, uncharacteristic) on working with at-risk teens. If anyone believes that, I have a bridge.....

edit> I'm sure this Bartcop link has appeared here already. But if not...

Bush and Cocaine
http://www.bartcop.com/021104coke.htm

[stevedeshazer]

26. I've wondered about that, too

There must be records somewhere, although they may have been scrubbed.

[LiberalFighter]

28. It was reported somewhere that his daddy was on their board

An important piece of information needed are the dates (beginning and ending) that bush* was a "counselor" at PULL.

Also, would there be any pictures or news reports of bush* "helping out" these kids? Which would it be more likely? A story about bush* with PULL? Or no story and he was with PULL?

[RedEarth]

23. This sounds like they released "all" the records

Now everyone can just put this behind us and move on to something more important like Kerry's botox. Fucking liars.

[0007]

24. I think we should take a good hard look at James R. Bath

and his military records in comparison to junior's military records. It has been said that they were very close buddies, in snorting coke, missing from Guard duty and oil business deals in Midland Texas.

Was James R. Bath with junior when he was arrested for cocaine?

Did Mr. Bath do community service also?

It has been said that James R. Bath was involved in helping junior get a abortion for Robin Lowman. Robert Carl Chandler also a good friend of Bush and a supporter from way back, made the
arrangements for Miss Lowman's abortion at the Twelve Oaks Hospital in Houston, Texas. It is now call the Bayou City Medical Center. allegedly,the source was threatened by Chandler and junior's crony, a man named James R. Bath. Boy! James R. Bath name keeps popping up with junior all the time these days, 'eh?
Where in the Hell is Jimmy Boy? Does anyone know?

google Robin Lowman -

[Cocoa]

29. Gephardt lied

he said Bush got an F in "works well with others."

[Gingersnapsback]

30. Put Bush under oath and ask

if he has done cocaine of if he had illicit sex with that hooker!
We know he can be impeached for lying under oath.

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