President George W. Bush’s Military Service: A Critical Analysis

Summary.

The following analysis of President Bush’s ("Bush") military records and the controlling legal authorities shows the following beyond any reasonable doubt:

• The pay records released by the White House this past winter prove Bush received unauthorized, i.e., fraudulent, payments for inactive duty training, even if he did show up for duty.
• The memorandum from Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Albert C. Lloyd, who affirmed for the White House that Bush met his retention/retirement year point requirement, is an obfuscation, or outright deception, that disregarded Bush’s failure to meet the statutory and regulatory fiscal year satisfactory participation requirement. Bush’s superiors in the Texas Air National Guard failed to take required regulatory actions when Bushed missed required training and failed to take his flight physical.
• Despite seemingly laudatory comments, Bush’s May 1972 officer performance report was a clear and unmistakable indication that his performance had declined from the annual 1971 report. The report was the kiss of death before he left for Alabama that year.
• Bush did not meet the requirements for satisfactory participation from 1972 to 1973.

In the final analysis, the record clearly and convincingly proves he did not fulfill the obligation he incurred when he enlisted in the Air National Guard and completed his pilot training, despite his honorable discharge. He clearly shirked the duty he undertook in 1968 upon enlistment and in 1969 upon completion of his flight training at Moody AF Base. Less than two years after Bush won his solo wings, he walked away from his duty to serve as a fighter pilot while troops were still dying in Vietnam. Moreover, he received fraudulent payments for INACDUTRA.

We have not yet heard a satisfactory explanation by the President for his abandoning a profession he purportedly loved passionately. He, therefore, must four-square his past public statements about his performance with the official record and must explain why he prematurely abandoned a commitment to serve his Nation in the TXANG during another war to pursue personal goals. As a self-proclaimed "wartime president," this President owes the U.S. public, especially the military and veterans, no less. He certainly cannot rely on his military record to answer these questions.

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/opinion/lechliter.pdf