QandO: Bush Guard Records

February 10, 2004

Bush Guard Records
Posted by McQ

The Boston Globe is reporting that records they've obtained document drill attendance by George Bush during the supposed "AWOL" period in Houston following his duty in Alabama.

The Globe says:

The personnel records, covering Bush's Guard service between May 1972 and May 1973, constitute the first evidence that Bush appeared for any duty during the first 11 months of that 12-month period. Bush is recorded as having served the minimum number of days expected of Guard members in that 12 months of service time.
One of the documents lists nine service periods of 2 to 3 days each and records the points Bush earned toward his service retirement benefit. The other is a summary of his service in the 12 months beginning May 1972, and lists the same number of service points earned.

What this does is settle the fact that he was indeed attending drills in part of that period, the period in which it is claimed he didn't attend drills with his Houston based unit (as well as two of the months in Alabama - Oct and Nov of '72):

But on May 2, 1973, Bush's two commanders at Ellington Air Force Base wrote that they could not evaluate his performance for the prior 12 months because he had not been there.

Well guess what? They're right. When you write an evaluation of a subordinate you're required to have had direct contact in a command or supervisory role for a minimum period of time or you are prevented BY REGULATION from rendering an evaluation. That's as much to protect the individual being evaluated as anything. Remember .... if you're doing a once a month drill, that period of evaluation, in real time, constitutes 24 days. Not many people would feel comfortable with an evaluation based on 24 days, but that, apparently, is the minimum time assigned to render an evaluation in the Guard. That doesn't mean that the person wasn't there for any of the period, it means they weren't there for the entire period necessary to constitute a basis for evaluation. That is perfectly in sync with the fact that Bush was in ALABAMA from May to Nov of '72, thus leaving only 7 months in the rating period for him to be observed in HOUSTON.

Another interesting tidbit in this story is the fact that the records have been in the hands of a Democrat activist Bob Fertig since 2000 and it is through him the Globe obtained the records. Fertig apparently got the records by requesting them from the Air Reserve Personnel Center in Colorado. My question: Why has it taken Fertig this long to release them? More importantly, if it was that easy to get them, why has it taken this long for a major news outlet to get them? Just as confusing though is why the Bush Administration hasn't had them as long as Fertig has.

UPDATE: Checking out Fertig I find he has a website almost exclusively dedicated to the subject of Bush being "AWOL". He should, perhaps, get a life. In it some very telling documents are completely misinterpreted. I chalk some of that up to Fertig having no idea about how the reserve forces work. In fact, much of this tempest in a tea pot is because of ignorance in that regard.

Probably the worst bit was found at Calpundit where "Air Reserve Forces" was characterized as a "disciplinary paper unit" in which Bush eventually found himself.

That's NONSENSE.

It is the umbrella organization under which Air Force Reserve administration takes place. Proof?

Check out this form of which only half is shown on Calpundit's story. Note the title of the form? Air Reserve Forces Retirement Credit Summary. Yes ... AIR RESERVE FORCES, which they'd have you believe designated a disciplinary unit. Yet here it is on Bush's AF Form 712 well before the so-called AWOL dates.

So was Bush in the "ARF" then? Well of course he was... as we're all of his ANG unit .... this form chronicles his attendence with his Houston unit as a part of the AIR RESERVE FORCES. What we have is "AIR RESERVE FORCES" headquarters sending out Bush's retirement point recapitulation as any good ADMINISTRATIVE headquarters should to its members. Form 712 is the form used to do that. Look at the date at the bottom left of the form -- the AF started using AF Form 712 in August of 1969. That's important because it takes us to our next step in debunking the nonsense of Bush being in an ARF "disciplinary unit".

Check out this form. Its AF Form 526. Its function? To provide a retirement point summary. But, you say, that's what Form 712 does. Note the date on AF Form 526 in the bottom left hand corner. The Air Force started using it in April of 1972 apparently superceedeing AF Form 712. And they called it what? "ARF Retirement Credit Summary" . My goodness you say. That's precisely the same title that the previous form had?

Correct. Why is that? Because the Air Force has consolidated all of its reserve forces under one administrative headquarters. Instead of having an Air Force Reserve summary and an Air National Guard summary, they've taken BOTH of their reserve forces and lumped them under AIR RESERVE FORCES. And for those who don't know, the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard are NOT the same thing. ARF is NOT a "disciplinary" unit as charged in the Calpundit article. Its an administrative headquarters which functions in the same capacity for both the Air Force Reserve AND the Air National Guard.

Look, I spent 21 years as a reservist (plus 7 years on active duty). Because the reserves are a second job (members already have their main breadwinning job in the civilian sector), reserve units go out of their way to accomodate civilian job needs, schooling, etc. That means that a reservist, because of his civilian occupation or that occupation's demands, may not be able to make scheduled drills all of the time (like working on a political campaign WITH PERMISSION in Alabama). They're given a lot of leeway in making up drills or assmeblies if they have to miss them. They can also drill on odd weekends if there is a need by the unit for someone to be present, drill for points with another unit, or any of a number of other options. All of this seems to be evident in Bush's record. The key for any reservist or guardsman is to earn enough points through drills and active duty to have a good "retirement year". That requirement does not mean they have to attend every drill with their unit every month. Based on Bush's records available through various sources, it appears he fulfilled that requirement.

UPDATE II: Reader J Lawson, a former AF Reservist, does a yoeman's job of explaining why this is all nonsense in answer to Calpundit's charges. Its a little technical, but he does explain the ground truth of how the system works and why, based on the evidence available, it is clear there's no case against Bush.

OK ... off the soapbox ... this has really gotten more time than it deserves.

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Comments

The name Bob Fertig sounds familiar. Is he the same guy who dropped the drunk driving bomb just before the 2000 election? I think I need to do some searching...

Posted by: Steverino at February 10, 2004 11:57 AM

Okay, did a Google search on the name "Bob Fertig". A person of that name was quoted in connection with an anti-Bush rally in July, 2001. It's probably the same guy, but there's not much else relevant.

The fact that Fertig released the info now, as opposed to either the 2000 election or this coming October, tells me that it tends to exonerate Bush. And the Bush people apparently have gotten the same records from the same source.

Why didn't the Bush Admin have the records before? Well, the Texas Air National Guards may have given them the impression that the records didn't exist, and it wasn't a big deal until recently, so the Admin probably wasn't searching too hard for the records.

I'm hoping we're seeing the end of this red herring. A lot of time, keystrokes, and emotions have been poured into this (apparently innocuous) issue.

Posted by: Steverino at February 10, 2004 12:35 PM

Sorry, folks, but this won't be the end of it. Via NRO's "The Corner":

The White House this afternoon released proof of Bush's national guard service. A reader makes a good observation:
At McClellen's press conference, a disappointed journalist said, ''Is there anybody who can corroborate these pay records, or are we supposed to just believe these documents?''
Clearly, NOTHING will be enough for the press.... On the radio a reporter said: "But as you know, a pay stub doesn't prove anything, only that he got paid" and "the microfiche is fuzzy but apparently shows the dates."

Posted by: bob at February 10, 2004 03:33 PM

McQ - sorry I had to get technical over there, but I was trying to educate people who have:

1. Not the vaguest idea how the system works, with

2. Not the slightest urge to learn, and who have

3. A vested interest in NOT finding out anything that might upset their worldview.

'Bush lied, people died.' 'Bush was AWOL, Kerry's a hero.' 'Even though there's records, they aren't proof because nobody remembers him.'

Their life is black and white, circumscribed by the sound bytes that circulate in their heads. What's permitted and encouraged for a Dem is never allowable or condoned in a Repub. And I for one am getting damn sick of it.

I spent 13 years in the same Reserve unit. Some people I knew by name. Others came and went - some I never saw because they did alternate drill weekends, inprocessing and outprocessing during the week.

I don't remember the folks who I took care of in '89 unless I had a good reason to - there was a VERY good looking Sgt (who unfortunately had the brains of a rock) who I remember because of the way she looked in her uniform - but I sure couldn't name everyone in the squadron, I don't think I even MET everyone in the squadron, and I'm pretty sure if asked a lot of them won't be able to remember me or my name except as that white guy in the Orderly room who knew about computers..

But anyway, just wanted to thank you for noticing that I WAS trying to educate these guys - who seem strikingly resistant to ANYTHING that's not what they want to hear!

Posted by: JLawson at February 10, 2004 05:49 PM

I appreciate you getting technical. It gives those who continue to spout their nonsense less and less ground to claim as their own. And I thought you did a marvelous job explaining it.

It was interesting that you came to the same conclusion I did when I sat down and looked at the records. Its all there. Its a no-brainer. There is no foundation to any of these charges.

Yet, as you point out, that is NOT what these people want to hear. And compound that with their absolute ignorance of the system and you can see how vast conspiracy theories with no basis in fact manage to get off the ground and wobble their way around the world.

Posted by: McQ at February 10, 2004 06:02 PM

JLawson,
I read your posts and the comments about it over at CalPundit. It was pathetic watching the commentors there twist your words, refuse to admit to fact, and in general make asses of themselves.
I like to think I'm a fair man. I'm a registered Libertarian, but I'm supporting Bush. If there were anything to the AWOL charges, I'd say so, but there just isn't. If the Democrats continue with their shrill attacks, they're going to look like idiots.
Someone who attended Harvard Business School about the same time as Bush remarked that Bush had a reputation for being an excellent poker player. This is just another example: he's letting the other side throw all their chips into this hand, and then dropping a royal flush onto the table.

Posted by: Steverino at February 10, 2004 09:52 PM

What this whole argument dances around but never quite comes right out and says is:

1) Bush was a coward because he avoided Vietnam by going into the Guard.

2) Bush was a hypocrite who personally refused to fight, but now wants others to fight HIS war.

This is the real agenda of keeping the story alive. The point is to provide a contrast to Kerry. The counter narrative is:

1) Kerry was a brave a decorated soldier who, despite his personal reservations about the war, bravely served, was wounded and decorated for valor.

2) Kerry was not a hypocrite. He served, and then seeing first hand how evil the war was, came home and became a major player in the anti-war movement, proving that he is a man of character.

So whether or not Bush was actually AWOl is really immaterial. The point is to keep the story alive in order to provide the contrast between the cowardly hypocritical Bush, and the valiant principled Kerry.

Whether this strategy will work in the general electiion is rather dubious; but it is rather an obviously good strategy for convincing Democrats that Kerry is the most likely candidate to beat Bush. The Democrats have correctly identified their biggest weakness, and Bush's biggest strength as the War on Terror. This is their attempt to overcome their defiences. We'll see if it plays well in December, or whether this whole flap just acts as a boost to get Kerry the nomination.

Posted by: Scott Harris at February 11, 2004 10:48 PM

REtype

This is their attempt to overcome their deficiencies. We'll see if it plays well in November, or whether this whole flap just acts as a boost to get Kerry the nomination.

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