THE AWOL PROJECT IS A PART OF THE
REALITY BASED COMMUNITY
Note:
This is a working draft for comment and is part of the AWOL Project, a series of
online articles examining the military records of George W. Bush from the
perspective of the Federal statutes, Department of Defense (DoD) regulations,
and Air Force policies and procedures concerning that military service. (Before
linking to anything on this site, please read http://www.glcq.com/me.htm
)
Please direct your comments, correction,
and suggestions to awol@glcq.com.
THE AWOL PROJECT
An
Examination of the Bush Military Files
New
Articles
Albert
Lloyd, The Media, And The 50 Point Big Lie, Part 1: The Big Lie, And The Media In 2000 The White House has been claiming that Bush “fulfilled
his duty” based on a lie---that all Bush was required to do was get “50 points
per retirement year.” Part 1 explains
why this is a lie, and exposes the “mainstream” media’s reliance upon a
politically corrupt and compromised former Texas Air National Guard official
for its understanding of Bush’s requirements.
Part 1 also examines the media reporting of the “big lie” during the
2000 campaign. Part 2 (not yet available)
will look at how the media has relied upon the “big lie” during the 2004 campaign---despite
efforts to provide them with the facts.
ARPC, & The 50 Point Big Lie A companion piece to the above article. Less than five months after Bush took over the White House, the
Air Force created a web page with lies about Bush’s requirements. They went so far as to claim that prior to
1978, Air Force regulations never had a “fiscal year training
requirement.” The AWOL Project has Air
Force regulations proving that this is wrong---and not just a mistake. The Air Force backed up this “error” with
obviously erroneous citations of the law of the United States of America And within hours of having their lie brought
to their attention, the Air Force tried to hide the evidence…but The AWOL Project
saved the evidence. As it turns out,
the ARPC web site is controlled by its Public Affairs department, headed by Lt.
Col. Thomas A. Deall. In 2000, Deall
told the Boston Globe that ARPC had reviewed Bush’s records, and found that
Bush had met “minimum drill requirements.
When asked about the criteria used for making that statement, Deall lied
about the requirements, and now refuses to answer any questions related to the
ARPC “review” of Bush’s records.
DRAFT ARTICLES—DO NOT QUOTE FROM, OR LINK TO, THESE
PIECES WITHOUT PERMISSION. FOR REVIEW
ONLY
Tampering, Forgery, And Purging Of Bush Military Record
Part I: Evidence Of Document Tampering There is no question that some of Bush’s military records have
been tampered with. This piece explores
the evidence, and suggests why the tampering may have occurred.
Part II: Evidence Of Forgery In The Bush Files Bush’s “signature” changed dramatically from the time he was getting great reviews as a Guardsman, to the time he stopped showing up. It appears, in fact, that some documents, especially those concerning Bush’s “resignation” from the Texas Air National Guard, contain forged signatures---including a copy of the same document with two completely different signatures. The evidence strongly suggests that Bush’s “resignation” was far from voluntary….
Part III Evidence of Purging of Bush’s Military
Records (Not yet available). The
first four years of Bush’s service are comprehensively documented. The documentation for the remainder is
not. Documents that should be in the
records aren’t there. There is an
explanation, i.e. documents related to disciplinary actions are destroyed once
someone is discharged from the Air National Guard and Air Reserve Forces….
Also
see….THE
AWOL FAQ—A Work in Progress
Overview
and Contexts
Introduction
Training,
And The Air National Guard
The
Statutory, Regulatory, And Policy Context
Historical Context
Articles
When the
White House released Bush’s military records in February 2004, no effort was
made by the mainstream media to do a comprehensive examination of these
records. The AWOL Project attempts to
fill the gap left by the mainstream media, by examining those documents within
the context of the US statutes, Department of Defense regulations, and Air
Force policies and procedures of that era.
There are
four “primary” pieces of considerable length, examining various aspects of
Bush’s military career. They are:
Fraud—The Secrets of Bush’s Payroll Records Revealed (May 1, 1972 to September 30, 1973). Bush’s payroll records contain a wealth of
information that the mainstream media ignored, including the data originally
entered into the payroll system that shows not only the days and times that
Bush was credited with training, but what kind of training was being credited,
and when the data was processed. The information in Bush’s payroll records tells
us that Bush requested and received pay and point credit for which he was
ineligible under Air Force policy. But
statements made by people who were responsible for Bush’s training suggest that
Bush received credit for training that was never performed.
The Transfer Scam (May 1, 1972 to
August 1, 1973) The documents related to Bush’s attempted transfer to the
“9921st Air Reserve Squadron” make it clear that Bush’s spokesmen have been
lying about Bush not knowing that he was ineligible to join the 9921st. In fact, they show that his request was an
attempt by Bush to fraudulently escape his obligations as a member of the
United States Armed Forces.
Discharge, or Desertion? (July 1,
1973 to October 1, 1973) The documents related to Bush’s discharge from the
Texas Air National Guard show that Bush intended to desert the Armed Forces
with almost a year of his statutory six year participation requirement
unfulfilled.
Deserter: Bush After TXANG (September 15, 1973 to November 21,
1974) When Bush was discharged out of
the Texas Air National Guard, he was transferred to the authority of the Air
Force Reserves. The documents appear to
show that even before Bush was discharged from the Texas Air National Guard,
the Air Force had disciplined him for his dereliction of duty. What actually happened, however, is that
based on its examination of Bush’s records, the Air Force concluded that Bush
was a “deserter”, and retroactively taken the steps necessary to deal with
someone in Bush’s position who had abandoned their commitment to the US
Government.
There are
also a number of shorter pieces that examine various other aspects of the
controversy: These are:
Exposed—Bush’s Lies About “Making Up” for the Training He Was Supposed to Perform Bush was required to show up for monthly training with his unit, or to perform substitute training for the missed training. Bush claims he made up the five straight months of training he missed. The records show that Bush is lying.
Bush’s Unreleased Pilot Agreement and Why Its Important. The White House claims that it released “all the documents” in February 2004. And although it has release additional documents five separate times so far, it has continued to withhold a key document that The AWOL Project has acquired. These two short pieces explain what the document is, and why its important.
Bush: Don’t Ask Me to Defend the
USA (an analysis of the newly released resignation letter.) Bush’s complete lack of concern for
America’s national security is revealed in a document that was finally released
by the White House on October 1, 1973, when he declares that “possible future
commitments” will prevent him from serving in the armed forces even under the
most serious threat the United States of America could face.
Was the “Killian Memo Scandal” a Set Up? White House withheld key “proportionate font” memo from February “document dump” On the very last day that the Department of Defense could release documents under a court order, it finally released to the public a document that disproves the “theory” that fueled the CBS “Killian memo” controversy---that the “Killian memos” could not have been produced in 1972 on a typewriter owned by the Texas Air National Guard. But this was not some obscure document found in some isolated file---it was a document that was provided to the White House in February 2004, and withheld by the White House despite their claims that all non-medical records have been released.
There are
also a number of “explanatory” pieces,
explaining in exhaustive detail the payroll and points record data, and the
contemporaneous laws and policies concerning Bush’s military service.
Introduction
On
February 10. 2004, the White House released a number of documents[1]
related to George W. Bush’s military service in the Texas Air National
Guard. (TXANG). The White House
claimed repeatedly that these documents proved that Bush had “fulfilled his
duty.” They even provided the press
with a statement from
a former Texas Air National Guard official, Albert Lloyd, who stated that
the documents that were released “proves that [Bush] completed his military
obligation in a satisfactory manner.”
Unbeknowst to the press, however, Lloyd had been personally
involved in ensuring that Bush received F-102 pilot training, despite
Bush’s abysmal
pilot aptitude test scores.
In fact,
not only did those documents fail to prove that Bush had “fulfilled his
duties”, they prove the opposite.
On Friday,
February 13, 2004, the White House released
what it described as all the documents[2]
in Bush’s personnel files. But the new documents, more than four
hundred pages, were something less than advertised. The Friday night “document dump” was thoroughly disorganized,
and replete with duplicate pages. In
some cases, documents were illegible (and unintelligible to civilians). Of
course, they came with no glossary and no guide.
The
mainstream press was confronted with a massive amount of information to sift
through, and no expertise with which to evaluate the information contained in
the documents.. The subsequent
reporting on the documents consisted almost entirely of statements noting
(erroneously) the lack of a “smoking gun”, and the “unanswered questions” that
remained.
But the records released by the White House contained
more than a “smoking gun”. They
contained a whole arsenal of documents that, if you know the context in
which they were written, establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that “Bush
was AWOL.”
The Bush documents
also reveal that Bush’s personnel files were tampered with to disguise what had
occurred, and that the White House (and the Bush campaign in 2000) has
consistently lied about the nature of the records, and made claims regarding
Bush’s obligations as a member of the United States Armed Forces that have
absolutely no basis in fact
For the
past four years, Bush and his supporters have done everything in their power to
obscure the facts concerning Bush’s military service. This series will reveal those facts, and in the process, reveal
the character of George W. Bush, and those who defend and support him.
Training, And The Air National Guard
Both
critics and supporters of George W. Bush have found it convenient to
characterize Air National Guard units as something of a “joke.” Bush’s supporters like to claim that Bush
was not an exception, that nobody took their training seriously. This is a serious, and completely unjustifiable,
assault on the dedication and integrity of the hundreds of thousands of people
who served in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Bush’s critics like to point to the fact
that the 147th Fighter Interceptor Group was called the “Champagne Unit”. But that description was based not on the
“fact” that members of the 147th sat around and drank champagne all day, but
based on the fact that many member of the 147th were sons of rich and powerful
Texans whose enlistment in TXANG was brought about through political
favoritism. There is no reason to
suspect that any of these men showed the level of contempt for their
obligations as members of TXANG as Bush did.
And although it was clearly wrong that the sons of the rich and powerful
were given ANG based draft deferments while those without political power were
sent to Vietnam, it is equally wrong to suggest that once those sons of the
powerful joined TXANG, they did not do their jobs with honor and
distinction.
As the
“Historical Context” section below demonstrates, the Pentagon began taking ANG
training far more seriously in the early 1970s than it had in the past. But perhaps more importantly, there is no
reason to suspect that the officers of the 147th like Jerry Killian and Bobby
Hodges did not take that training seriously.
It may, or
may not, be true that Army National Guard training was treated as a joke. After all, if a lack of training and
discipline lead to someone being marked as “killed” during field training
maneuvers, that person could get up and have a cigarette. But the cost of a lack of preparation in
the Air National Guard was far higher.
Pilots flying at close to supersonic speeds did not have the luxury of
consulting a training manual if something went wrong in the air. Mechanics, inspectors, and support personnel
had to do their jobs, and do them correctly as well, because a lack of training
and discipline during flight training maneuvers could easily result in real
fatalities. It is completely improper
to suggest that officers like Hodges and Killian had so little regard for the
lives of the men for which they were responsible that they did not enforce
training and performance standards.
Absent compelling evidence to the contrary, it must be assumed that
these officers acted honorably within the limitations set for them by the
“political” nature of the Texas Air National Guard, and that they would never
endanger the lives of the men who served under them to do a political favor for
someone. [3]
The
Statutory, Regulatory, And Policy Context
The full
meaning of the Bush Military Records are only revealed within the context of
the US Statutory laws, Department of Defense regulations, and Air Force
policies and procedures from that era.
Until now, these laws and policies have not been readily available on-line. Although the laws of that era can be found
at most large public and university libraries, there are few copies of the
relevant Air Force policy manuals available to the public from that era. (The Pentagon has refused to provide copies
of these publications to researchers, despite the fact that the are not
classified documents.)
For this
reason, a great deal of time and expense has gone into providing scanned copies
of the Statutes, Federal Regulations, and Air Force Policy documents from that
time. The legal and policy documents are linked from the source documents pages.
This section also contains links to all of the key documents in the Bush
chronology.
United
States Statutory law and the Department of Defense regulation determined the
nature of Bush’s obligations, and were the basis for Air Force policies and
procedures regarding the Air National Guard.
These laws and regulations are examined in Bush’s Betrayal of
American National Security Part I (Statutory Law) And
Part II (Dod Regulations.)
However,
understanding Bush’s records requires an understanding of the Air Force policies
and procedures to which Bush was subject throughout his military “career”. In Bush's Attendance Obligations As A Member Of The Us Military,
the relationship between the Statutory and regulatory laws and those policies
is outlined, and the policies and procedures explained in detail.
An
understanding of Bush’s records also requires an understanding of the policies
and procedures regarding Guardsmen who relocated and were unable to fulfill
their requirements with their original unit.
The Relocating Guardsman: A Procedural
Primer, examines the policies and procedures of the Air Force as
they relate to the Bush records.
Finally, a full understanding of Bush’s service requires
the knowledge necessary to interpret the documents related to Bush’s
“attendance records”. Understanding
Payroll and Points Records Part I Payroll Records
and Part Ii:
Points Records, explain the various documents, and show how they are
related to each other.
Historical
Context
In the spring
of 1968, George W. Bush was about to graduate from college, and lose his draft
deferment. Like many young men of
privilege from his generation, Bush was able to evade serving his country in
Vietnam by enlisting in the Air National Guard (ANG).
What
is now the Air Force started out as a branch of the US Army, and the Army
National Guard included an “air forces” component. When the Air Force became a separate component of the US Armed
Forces, National Guard organizations insisted that the Air Force include an
“Air National Guard” component. Initially,
ANG was considered little more than a publicly funded” flying club for
ex-WWII pilots”, and regarded as “flying storage” by the active duty military
establishment.[4]. Unlike the Army National Guard, ANG made
little sense insofar as fighter and bomber pilots (and the infrastructure that
supported them) were not terribly useful if a governor had to declare a state
of emergency. ANG was (and is), in
practical terms, a redundant organization which duplicates the function of the
Air Force Reserves.
ANG units were mobilized during the Korean War, with
less than satisfying results. The units
were poorly trained and equipped and it often took months of retraining before
ANG members could be integrated into the active duty component of the Air Force
itself[5].
Domestic political
considerations and the opposition of both the regular Air Force and ANG
hierarchies prevented Lyndon Johnson mobilizing more than a handful of ANG
units during the Vietnam War. ANG units
like the “champagne unit” of TXANG, 147th Fighter Interceptor Group (147th
FIG), became a safe haven for the sons of the wealthy and powerful who wished
to avoid service in Vietnam[6].
To address
malingering by the privileged draft dodgers in places like Bush’s TXANG, in
1969 the Department of Defense instituted a new policy, inducting those who
failed to “fulfill their duty” for involuntary active duty for up to 24
months. The DoD, and the Air Force,
were going to be taking a tougher line with those who failed to “satisfactorily
participate” as members of the US Armed Forces.
In 1970,
Defense Secretary Melvin Laird announced the Total Force Concept, which was
designed to “strengthen and rebuild public confidence in the Reserves while
saving money by reducing the size of the active force.”(see insert, above)[7] The objective was to more fully integrate
the Reserve components into the planning and policy-making of the US Military.
In August 1973, Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger announced that the
formalization of the concept in the Total Force Policy.
“Total Force” meant that United States would be more dependent
upon organizations like TXANG in the event of a national emergency. The training required of ANG members would play
an essential role in maintaining America’s defenses, by ensuring that “the Air
Force active establishment’s needs for a special kind of manpower in reserve”
were fulfilled. Such training needed to
be continuous, to “insure that the desired standards of operational capability
and readiness are maintained.”
Thus, it
was the Air Force, through the DoD’s enunciation of the Total Force Concept—and
not TXANG, or the governor of Texas, or a National Guard airman—which
established national military force levels, including the number of ready, willing, and able F-102 pilots, even
those who flew for TXANG.
TANG received taxpayer dollars through the
U.S. Air Force for one purpose: to help America’s defenses in time of
emergency. The U.S. Air Force expected in return that TANG would train, and
maintain, the required numbers of F-102 pilots, pilots with the necessary
skills, knowledge, flying hours, and character to serve when their country
called. So when TANG hid the fact of Lt. Bush’s missed drills and unauthorized
absences and skipped physicals, TANG shirked its duty just as surely as Bush
shirked his