by Robert A. Rogers
(ret. 1st Lt. Mission Pilot)
With two years left in his six-year obligation to the Texas
Air National Guard, 1st Lt. George W. Bush was
mysteriously suspended from flight - and never again
reported for a single day of duty.
Robert A. Rogers is a self-employed Northern Virginia
businessman and an Air National Guard veteran of eleven
years, 1954 through 1965. After this he had a 30-year career in
the commercial airline industry, including independent
consulting with various US Government civilian agencies and
military services.
Major Findings
"I think that people need to be held responsible for the actions
they take in life. I think that's part of the need for a cultural
change. We need to say that each of us needs to be
responsible for what we do." – George W. Bush in the first
Presidential debate, October 3, 2000.
''I did the duty necessary ... That's why I was honorably
discharged" – George W. Bush, May 23, 2000
From the beginning of his Presidential campaign, George W.
Bush has forcefully and repeatedly insisted that he faithfully
fulfilled all his military obligations by serving his time as a
member of the Texas Air National Guard.
But the first independent investigation of Bush's military record
by a former Air National Guard pilot has revealed the following:
1.Pilot George W. Bush did not simply "give up flying"
with two years left to fly, as has been reported. Instead,
Bush was suspended and grounded, very possibly as a
direct or indirect result of substance abuse.
2.The crucial evidence – a Flight Inquiry Board – that
would reveal the true reasons for Bush's suspension, as
well as the punishment that was recommended, is
missing from the records released so far. If no such
Board was convened, this raises further questions of
extraordinary favoritism.
3.Contrary to Bush's emphatic statements and several
published reports, Bush never actually reported in
person for the last two years of his service – in direct
violation of two separate written orders. Moreover, the
lack of punishment for this misconduct represents the
crowning achievement of a military career distinguished
only by favoritism.
This in-depth investigation and analysis of Bush's apparent
misconduct over the last two years of his six year obligation
suggests that Bush did not fulfill all of his military obligations to
the Texas Air National Guard and to his country, contrary to
his repeated assertions.
Moreover, Bush's misconduct could have resulted in significant
disciplinary action by his Commanding Officer, ranging in
severity from temporary or permanent grounding, a
career-damaging letter of reprimand, to forced reenlistment in
the US Army (including active duty in Vietnam), to a less-than
honorable discharge.
These issues are not trivial, nor are they ancient history. This
cloud of questions goes to the heart of George W. Bush's
promises to restore honor and integrity to the White House, to
strengthen the military, and to speak the plain truth on the
campaign trail.
If Bush had received a less-than honorable discharge, it is safe
to say that he would not be the Republican candidate for
President today. But the absence of any sign of severe
disciplinary action in the records we obtained raises serious
questions that can only be answered if Bush himself requests
the release of his full military service record.
Avoiding Vietnam through Preferential Treatment
George W. Bush graduated from Yale in May of 1968, at the
height of the Vietnam War when half a million young American
men were fighting for their country and dying at the rate of 350
per week. Bush, who mostly distinguished himself at Yale
through his social activities, vocally supported the war. But he
was not prepared to put his own life on the line. He had no
desire "to be an infantry guy as a private in Vietnam," he said.
Instead, Bush wanted to become a fighter pilot like his father,
who flew heroic combat missions in the Pacific during World
War II. "I wanted to fly, and that was the adventure I was
seeking," he told the New York Times in July. Bush denies
that he was trying to avoid combat. "One could argue that [I]
was trying to avoid being the infantryman but my attitude was
I'm taking the first opportunity to become a pilot and jumped on
that and did my time," he said.
But Bush did not join the full time active duty military. Instead,
he chose to enlist for "weekend warrior" duty in the Air National
Guard, where he could fulfill his military obligation far away
from the risk of combat and pursue his civilian career, including
working in several Republican Senate campaigns. "Had my
unit been called I would have gone ... to Vietnam," he said. But
like everyone else at the time, he knew the chances of that
happening were slim. And when his application form asked
about an overseas assignment, he checked "do not volunteer."
Competition for the few openings in the National Guard was
intense, and there was a waiting list of 100,000 nationally at
the time. Bush took the Air Force officer and pilot qualification
tests on January 17, 1968. He scored 25%, the lowest
possible passing grade on the pilot aptitude portion. On his
application form, he listed his "background qualifications" as
"none." But despite the waiting list, his low score and his lack
of qualifications, Bush was given a highly-coveted spot and
was sworn in on May 27 for a six-year commitment, taking a
solemn oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution and
the United States of America.
Bush and his father have adamantly denied that he received
preferential treatment, despite the fact that his father was then
a U.S. Representative from Texas and his grandfather Prescott
had been a prominent U.S. Senator from Connecticut. But the
Speaker of the House in Texas at the time, Ben Barnes,
admitted under oath last year that he had received a request
from a longtime Bush family friend, Sidney Adger of Houston,
to help Bush get into the Air National Guard. Barnes further
testified that he contacted the head of the Texas Air National
Guard, Brig. Gen. James Rose, to pass along Adger's request.
When asked about this sworn testimony, Bush was evasive: "I
have no idea and I don't believe so," he said. But according to
the Boston Globe, Bush "vaulted to the top of a waiting list of
500."
This preferential treatment in gaining entry to the Air National
Guard set the pattern for Bush's treatment throughout his
six-year obligation, including his rapid promotion to pilot and
1st Lieutenant, his sudden disappearance from the skies with
two years left to fly, and his failure to report for a single day of
duty in his final two years contrary to two specific orders.
After he completed only six weeks of basic airman training,
Bush received a commission as a second lieutenant in the
Texas Air National Guard. This was by means of a 'special
appointment' by the commanding officer of his squadron, with
the approval of a panel of three senior officers. This 2nd Lt.
commission was extraordinary, since it normally required eight
full semesters of college ROTC courses or eighteen months of
military service or completion of Air Force officer training
school. It was so unusual that Tom Hail, the Texas National
Guard historian, told the Los Angeles Times that he "never
heard of that" except for flight surgeons.
Despite a score of only 25% on his pilot entrance aptitude test,
Bush was then assigned to flight school, a posting that was
normally reserved to pilots graduating from ROTC training or Air
Force officer training. That was immediately followed by further
favoritism in being 'fast tracked' over those on the existing pilot
applicant waiting list into the 111th Fighter Interceptor
Squadron, a standby runway alert component of the 143rd
Group, one of several tactical Guard units responsible for
defending the Southern coast of the Continental U.S. against
attack.
Along with the rest of his squadron, Bush was trained to fly the
missile-equipped supersonic F-102 Delta Dart jet interceptor
fighter. By July of 1970, Bush had earned his wings and racked
up approximately 300 hours of training flight time in the F-102.
This qualified him to fly the F-102 without an instructor, but
was far short of the 500 hours of experience required for
volunteer active duty combat operations in Vietnam.
At this point in the Vietnam War, the US Air Force desperately
needed additional F-102 pilots to fly the dangerous
reconnaissance missions so important to the fate of American
troops on the ground. With only a small amount of solo flying
experience, Bush applied for a voluntary three month Vietnam
tour, perhaps counting on preferential treatment once again to
overcome his lack of readiness, or perhaps safe in the
knowledge that his request would certainly be rejected.
When Bush was summarily turned down for this volunteer
active duty option, he was left to fly as a "weekend warrior" in
the Texas Air National Guard out of Ellington AFB near
Houston Texas. On November 3, 1970, while Bush's father was
being re-elected to Congress from Houston, Bush was
promoted to 1st Lieutenant by Brig. General Rose, the same
man who got Bush into the Texas National Guard at the
request of the Bush family friend.
The Clouds Set In
The newly-released records reveal that 1st Lt. Bush was
credited with 46 days of flight duty from June 1970 to May
1971, expected Guard weekend duty and 'extra' runway
standby alert time for that year. However, that would be the
last time that Bush fully met his qualified jet fighter pilot
obligation to serve four complete years as a fully trained and
qualified fighter pilot.
Beginning sometime after May of 1971, Bush stopped living up
to his sworn obligation to the Texas Air National Guard and
thereby his country. By May of 1972, he was credited with only
22 flight duty days, 14 days short of the minimum 36 days he
owed the Guard for that year. And then things went from bad to
worse.
Astonishingly, Bush suddenly disappeared from the skies
altogether near the start of his fourth year. Bush flew for the
last time in the cockpit of an F-102 in April of 1972. From that
point on, Bush never flew again, in spite of the fact that he still
had two full years remaining of his six-year pilot service
commitment. And on May 15, 1972, Bush simply "cleared this
base" according to a written report by one of his two Squadron
supervising officers, Lt. Col. William D. Harris Jr.
On May 24, Bush requested in writing a six-month transfer to
an inactive postal Reserve unit in Alabama, for the stated
purpose of working on the campaign of a Republican Senate
candidate. If Bush had been temporarily transferred there, he
would not have continued flying until he returned to Texas,
because the Alabama unit had no airplanes.
In fact, Bush's transfer request was denied by National Guard
Bureau headquarters on May 31 1972, and Bush should have
returned to his base in Houston and continued with his flying
duties. Instead, he remained in Alabama until late in the fall.
And something critical happened on August 1, 1972 – George
W. Bush was summarily suspended from flying duties.
1. Was pilot George W. Bush suspended and grounded
with two years left to fly as a direct or indirect result of
substance abuse?
"George Walker Bush is one member of the younger
generation who doesn't get his kicks from pot or hashish or
speed ... As far as kicks are concerned, Lt. Bush gets his
from the roaring afterburner of the F-102." Texas Air National
Guard press release, March 1970.
There is no dispute that George W. Bush stopped flying with
two years left in his commitment to the Texas Air National
Guard and to his country at the height of the Vietnam War. The
big question that has never been satisfactorily answered is:
Why?
According to the Boston Globe – the only major publication
that has examined the last two years of Bush's military service
in depth – Bush simply "gave up flying" to spend six months
on a Republican Senate campaign in Alabama.
But this explanation is highly suspect, because fully trained
and currently qualified pilots with two remaining years of flying
obligation are rarely permitted to simply "give up" without some
form of disciplinary action beyond just suspension.
A pilot's completion of his six-year obligation is especially
important because of the heavy investment the Government
makes to provide jet fighter pilots with two full years of active
duty training. In today's money, the US Government paid close
to a million dollars to train 1st Lt. Bush in a highly complex
supersonic aircraft.
One of Bush's newly-released service documents provides a
significant clue to his sudden disappearance from the skies. In
a confirmation memo to the Secretaries of the Army and Air
Force dated September 29, 1972, Major General Francis
Greenleaf, then Chief of the National Guard Bureau in
Washington DC, confirmed the suspension of 1st Lt. George
W. Bush from flying status. This written confirmation cites an
earlier August 1, 1972 verbal order of the TX 147th Group's
Commanding Officer that suspended and grounded Bush from
flying duty for "his failure to accomplish annual medical
examination."
There are two ways to interpret this crucial memo: either 1st
Lt. Bush took his mandatory annual flight physical for pilots
and failed it for some as-yet undisclosed reason, or he refused
to present himself in the first place to an Air Force Flight
Surgeon, who were readily available in almost every state.
Campaign officials originally brushed off this crucial event by
suggesting that Bush was simply unable to travel to Houston
to visit his family physician. But the Boston Globe reported
that Air Force Flight Surgeons were assigned to Maxwell Air
Force Base in Montgomery Alabama, where he was then living.
More recently, campaign officials claimed that Bush did not
technically need to take his flight physical. "As he was not
flying, there was no reason for him to take the flight physical
exam," campaign spokesman Don Bartlett told the London
Times in June. But this assertion is false, because Bush was
technically still qualified to fly until after his "failure to
accomplish annual medical examination," which led to his
suspension and grounding. Moreover, Bush should have been
flying from his home base in Texas at the time of his
scheduled annual physical in August, because his request for
a transfer to Alabama had been rejected on May 31.
Bush's spokesman admitted that Bush "knew the suspension
would take place" if he failed to complete his mandatory annual
flight physical. But he writes it off to mere red tape, saying "it
was just a question of following the bureaucratic procedure of
the time."
But this suspension meant, at least momentarily, the end of
his dream to be a pilot. This was something he worked hard to
achieve, something he was proud of and bragged about,
something important to his family, and something that senior
Texas Air National Guard officials had gone to great lengths to
make possible. Therefore, Bush's "failure to accomplish annual
medical examination," could not have been either casual or
accidental.
Moreover, Bush had to have known that this suspension could
subject him to a punishment beyond just temporary
suspension. In fact, Bush could have been permanently
suspended or even reprimanded for his actions.
Why would a physical exam present a problem for 1st Lt.
Bush? A little-know fact reported in the London Times and the
New York Post on June 18, 2000 gives a powerful clue. In April
1972 – the same month that Bush "gave up" flying – all the
overseas and stateside military services began subjecting a
small random sample in their ranks to substance abuse testing
for alcohol and drugs. The Pentagon had announced its
intention to do so initially back on December 31, 1969. If Bush
reported for his scheduled physical in August 1972, he could
have been subject to selection for a random substance abuse
test.
Bush's spokesman told the London Times that Bush "was not
aware of any changes that required a drug test." But this does
not hold up under scrutiny. In 1969 – the year following Bush's
enlistment – the Pentagon notified every unit in the military that
it would implement random drug testing at some point in the
near future. When that moment arrived – April 1972 – every
enlisted person and officer throughout the military, both
overseas and stateside, would have been aware of this
dramatic change. After all, the whole purpose of the random
drug testing was to make it absolutely clear to everyone in the
Armed Forces that the Pentagon would not tolerate substance
abuse of any kind by anyone.
There is circumstantial evidence pointing to substance abuse
by Bush during this period. On the campaign trail, Bush has
stated that he has not used drugs or alcohol in excess since
1974. But this chronology makes it possible that he was in fact
abusing one or more of these substances in the summer of
1972.
Moreover, interviews with friends during this period reveal that
Bush partied and drank regularly, and Bush admits he was a
hard drinker at the time. And over the Christmas holidays,
Bush got into a widely-reported emotional showdown with his
father after taking his 16-year-old brother Marvin drinking,
hitting garbage cans while driving home.
Thus, the September 29 memo is a "smoking jet" which points
to a potentially devastating interpretation: that Bush stopped
flying two years short of his obligation because of substance
abuse – either directly, because he failed his physical exam,
or indirectly, because he refused to take it out of fear that he
would fail it.
Is it unreasonable to raise the possibility that 1st Lt. Bush was
suspended from flying as a direct or indirect consequence of
substance abuse? It might be if there was no way for Bush to
prove his innocence. But George W. Bush can readily defend
himself, if he so chooses, simply by voluntarily releasing his
complete military record.
A voluntary disclosure of this kind is not without precedent.
During the South Carolina Republican primary this campaign
year, rumors were spread by fellow Senators about Senator
John McCain's mental health as a result of his imprisonment
as a POW. McCain immediately quashed those rumors by
voluntarily releasing his entire military record, which confirmed
no indications of adverse physical or mental conditions.
Thus, Bush could easily put to rest the questions surrounding
"his failure to accomplish annual medical examination" – and
his subsequent suspension – if he would simply release his
complete military service record, which cannot be released by
the Air Force without Bush's explicit consent.
2. Was a Flight Inquiry Board of senior Air Force officers
convened to determine the appropriate punishment for
Bush's misconduct?
Regardless of the explanation for Bush's suspension, there is
another crucial question: Was this suspension sufficient
disciplinary action for such a flagrant dereliction of duty at a
time when the Air Force was reeling from a serious pilot
shortage at the peak of the Vietnam War?
In the Air National Guard, expensively trained pilots are not
casually suspended. There is normally a Flight Inquiry Board,
which exercises the military chain of command's obligation to
insure due process. If one had been convened, its three senior
officer members would have documented why such a severe
action was justified in relation to the country's military
objectives at the time, as opposed to the simple desire of a
trained pilot to just "give up flying".
In the event of serious misconduct, such as substance abuse,
a Flight Inquiry Board would have determined the appropriate
punishment. The punishments could have included temporary
or permanent 'grounding,' a career-damaging letter of
reprimand, forced reenlistment in the US Army with active duty
in Vietnam, or a less-than honorable discharge.
In fact, there is no evidence now in the public domain that a
Flight Inquiry Board was convened to deal with Bush's official
reclassification to a non-flying, grounded status. However, the
records of such a Board would not be subject to an ordinary
FOIA request because of privacy protections under FOIA.
This absence of a Flight Inquiry Board is of particular interest
to veteran pilots who are intimately familiar with normal
disciplinary procedures. In the absence of Bush's releasing his
complete service record, the implication is that Bush's
misconduct in regards to "his failure to accomplish annual
medical examination" was handled like everything else in his
military service: aided and abetted by powerful family
connections with total disregard for the needs of the military as
well as Bush's solemn oath.
Once again, the only way to get to the truth would be for
George W. Bush to personally request the release of his full
military records.
3. Did Bush altogether dodge his subsequent scheduled
Guard duty obligations for two years after his grounding,
and should he have received additional punishment for
this misconduct?
"I spent my time and I went to the Guard. It's just not true. I
did the duty necessary...any allegations other than that are
simply not true." (George W. Bush, May 23, 2000, CNN)
The questions about Bush's unfulfilled service record do not
end with his suspension and effective grounding on August 1,
1972. The central question for the remaining two years is
whether he fully and legitimately completed his original
six-year attendance obligation to the Texas Air Guard and his
country, as sworn under oath upon his enlistment, or if he
simply dodged his remaining non-flying duties.
Bush has said repeatedly that he completed his service
obligations. But a careful review of his record tells a very
different story.
On September 5, 1972, more than three months after his
transfer request to an inactive Alabama unit was refused, Bush
was finally ordered to start serving three months in an active
but non-flying administrative Guard unit, the 187th Tactical
Reconnaissance Group in Montgomery, Alabama, for four
certain duty days in October and November.
Despite this direct written order, there is no official notation in
his service record that Bush ever showed up for any of this
duty. General William Turnipseed and Lt. Col. Kenneth Lott,
who commanded the base at the time, told the Boston Globe
that Bush never appeared. "To my knowledge, he never
showed up," Turnipseed said in May.
Bush insists he did, according to the Dallas Morning News. "I
was there on temporary assignment and fulfilled my weekends
at one period of time. I made up some missed weekends. I
can't remember what I did, but I wasn't flying because they
didn't have the same airplanes. I fulfilled my obligations," he
said while campaigning in Alabama on June 23.
But the Bush campaign conducted its own search of Bush's
military records, and could not find evidence that Bush
performed any duty in Alabama, the Dallas Morning News
reported. The only published reports were from personal friends
who say they remember Bush telling him that he planned to
report for duty, but no reports of anyone in the Guard who
actually saw him. Moreover, Interceptor Magazine, a monthly
official National Guard publication distributed nationwide, ran
advertisements asking for anyone to step forward who
remembered seeing Bush on duty. This inquiry came up
empty-handed.
This raises the next question of whether 1st Lt. Bush was
intentionally absent from assigned duty contrary to a specific
written order, which is the civilian/Guard Airman equivalent of
AWOL. This absence could normally result in disciplinary
action beyond a slap on the wrist by his parent Squadron's
Commanding Officer.
When the three-month term of his apparently unfulfilled
temporary order in Alabama ended in November 1972, Bush
returned home to Houston Texas until the fall of 1973.
However, he again did not report in person for non-flying duty to
his parent Texas 111th Squadron during this whole time.
Bush offers a different excuse for this period: that the 111th
Squadron was switching to a newer jet, so he could not fly. But
the unit's commander told the Boston Globe that Bush could
have continued to fly the F-102, which remained in service in
his unit past the end of Bush's six-year commitment. "If [Bush]
had come back to Houston, I would have kept him flying the
102 until he got out," he said. "But I don't recall him coming
back at all." Given that this Commanding Officer used Bush
extensively for publicity and recruiting purposes during his
flying days, it is unlikely that he would have simply forgotten
Bush from the day he wrote that Bush "cleared the base" in
May 1972.
Still, Bush reappeared on the Texas Air Guard's radar screen
in May 1973. Bush was ordered to attend nine certain duty
days in person during Summer Camp at Ellington AFB
between May 22 and June 7. But 1st Lt. Bush did not do so –
making him apparently absent contrary to a specific written
order for a second time in less than a year.
According to the Boston Globe, Bush "spent 36 days on duty"
from May until July of 1973, but this is a clear
misunderstanding of the record. Our more recent FOIA request
produced an unsigned and undated one page listing of 35
inactive Reserve temporary duty credit days starting May 25
through July 30, 1973. This document is a paper confirmation
that Bush did not actually report for duty in person at the
Texas Air National Guard on any of these days. In addition, no
one in the Texas Air Guard at the time, from the top command
down, has stepped forward to say they saw Bush in person on
a single day between May 22 and July 30, 1973 – just as no
one saw Bush during his three month assignment in Alabama.
Instead, Bush in fact was credited with 35 "gratuitous" inactive
Air Force Reserve points – in other words, non-attendance
inactive Reserve credit time. The proof that this time was
"gratuitous" is the absence of any Bush duty time of any kind
on his official Texas Air National Guard record all the way from
the May 26 1972 entry of 22 pilot duty days for the prior year.
This is because "gratuitous" time does not count as scheduled
Texas Air Guard duty. This leaves Bush without a single
legitimate Texas Air National Guard service day for his fourth
and fifth years of service to his Texas Air National Guard
discharge on October 1, 1973 – a critical fact that has been
misunderstood in several previous reports of this period of
Bush's service.
On October 1, 1973 – fully eight months short of his full
six-year service obligation and scheduled discharge on May
26, 1974 – Bush was prematurely discharged with honors from
the Texas Air Guard, in spite of his failure to report in person
for any for duty over the prior 18 months. This is the very last
entry on his official half-page Texas Air Guard service record.
Another Reserve archive record released under our FOIA
request goes on to indicate eventual final inactive Reserve
discharge with honors in November 1974, but civilian Bush was
attending Harvard Business School as a full-time student by
that time.
There was no record received under our FOIA request that
indicate any more Reserve credit beyond July 30, 1973. This is
also puzzling, but does not add any further insight into the
fractured Texas Air National Guard attendance pattern after
April 1972.
Conclusion
Anyone seeking to be President of the United States and its
Commander in Chief, and who has campaigned specifically on
a promise to restore honor and integrity to the office,
strengthen the military, and tell the plain truth, should be
prepared to discuss his past record of service to his country.
Candidate Bush has a duty to the American people, as well as
his fellow military comrades-in-arms, to fully and accurately
answer all of these grave questions about his exceedingly
convenient and prematurely short military service.
Bush's available service records raise very serious questions
that reflect heavily on his qualifications for President. By
disclosing the full contents of his official service record, Bush
could clear up the cloud of questions that still linger 32 years
after his first oath to the United States.