Assembling Full War Records a Challenge (TANG, etc)

Assembling Full War Records a Challenge

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 30, 2004; Page A07


Although both President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry have repeatedly said they have made public their complete military service records, neither presidential candidate has yet permitted independent access to original files held in a high-security vault.


... (Ed. - Buried lead to follow.)


A Nov. 28, 1999, letter to the National Guard history office from a Texas National Guard historian, Tom Hail, noted that the 147th unit's histories were generating great interest "by the press scouring for dirt on Governor G.W. Bush." He said requests for copies of the documents were being handled through the Freedom of Information Act process. A Guard public relations officer, Col. Tom Schultz, said more research was required to establish what happened to the 1999 requests.

The unit histories undermine the initial contention of the Bush camp that he gave up flying because his services as an F-102 pilot were no longer needed. They show that the F-102 remained the workhorse of the 147th through mid-1972, when Bush moved from Texas to Alabama to take part in a political campaign, even as pilots were being trained on the more sophisticated F-101. Fifteen F-102 planes were in service in the 147th that year, compared with 18 planes in 1968, the year Bush joined the Guard.

The use of F-102s expanded in October 1972, when the group assumed a new "24-hour active alert mission" to safeguard the southern boundary of the United States against "surprise attack," according to the unit history. The new mission required that two F-102 fighter-interceptors be on five-minute alert at all times. The plane was not phased out until September 1974, 2 1/2 years after Bush stopped flying.

The unit histories also cast doubt on a 1999 statement by Bush that there were "five or six flying slots available" in the 147th when he first expressed an interest in applying, in January 1968. At that time, the unit was two pilots short of its assigned strength of 29 pilots. Two pilots were undergoing training to take over the positions, and one pilot was on the transfer list.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A60557-2004Sep29?language=printer