Bush’s Air National Guard records have critical data missing

A soldier’s 201 file is one of the most important documents a person who has served can count on. 
This file and the contents outline and record everything about the solider and the character of his/her service. 

That is under normal circumstances, but if you’ve got something to hide, your 201 file is your accuser.   

When then are important documents missing from Bush’s pseudo-war record is the question now rearing its ugly head. 

Records surrounding the ‘missing time’ in 1972 – 1973 are no where to be found. 

“For example, Air National Guard regulations at the time required commanders to write an investigative report for the Air Force when Bush missed his annual medical exam in 1972. The regulations also required commanders to confirm in writing that Bush received counseling after missing five months of drills.

No such records have been made public and the government told The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that it has released all records it can find.” was reported by the Associated Press.

There are five kinds of files that are missing. In an exclusive article by AP:

A report from the Texas Air National Guard to Bush's local draft board certifying that Bush remained in good standing. The government has released copies of those DD Form 44 documents for Bush for 1971 and earlier years but not for 1972 or 1973. Records from Bush's draft board in Houston do not show his draft status changed after he joined the guard in 1968. The AP obtained the draft board records Aug. 27 under the Freedom of Information Act.

Records of a required investigation into why Bush lost flight status. When Bush skipped his 1972 physical, regulations required his Texas commanders to "direct an investigation as to why the individual failed to accomplish the medical examination," according to the Air Force manual at the time. An investigative report was supposed to be forwarded "with the command recommendation" to Air Force officials "for final determination."

A written acknowledgment from Bush that he had received the orders grounding him. His Texas commanders were ordered to have Bush sign such a document; but none has been released.

Reports of formal counseling sessions Bush was required to have after missing more than three training sessions. Bush missed at least five months' worth of National Guard training in 1972. No documents have surfaced indicating Bush was counseled or had written authorization to skip that training or make it up later. Commanders did have broad discretion to allow guardsmen to make up for missed training sessions, said Weaver and Lawrence Korb, Pentagon (news - web sites) personnel chief during the Reagan administration from 1981 to 1985.  The DA form 1379 would have further documented any request for excused absence, alternative training, etc. but these documents have not surfaced either.

A signed statement from Bush acknowledging he could be called to active duty if he did not promptly transfer to another guard unit after leaving Texas. The statement was required as part of a Vietnam-era crackdown on no-show guardsmen. Bush was approved in September 1972 to train with the Alabama unit, more than four months after he left Texas.

Controversy still surrounds Bush’s National Guard stint.  Questions such as the usual time a person spent on the National Guard waiting list was 1.5 years.  Why was Bush accepted immediately and well before anyone else?  Why did he get a commission in the manner he did?  Why are members of both units Bush was to have served in saying some interesting things about never seeing the guy? What exactly was his father’s role in allowing Bush to jump the line and avoid duty in Viet Nam that cost America 58,000 dead?

The missing files are not indicative of standard practice of the National Guard or the armed Reserves.  A person got out of Viet Nam by membership it is true, but commanders knew they had a rather heavy stick hanging over a person’s head to make them toe the line.