Bush's Military Record

At the risk of belaboring a point, we come back to the matter of Bush's National Guard record. Retired Army Colonel Gerald A. Lechliter has compiled what might be the most comprehensive look so far at the details that can be mined from the February document dump by the Bush White House along with other public records. Here are the summary points from Lechliter's work entitled President George W. Bush’s Military Service: A Critical Analysis © 2004

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.

This is important not so much because of what it tells us about Bush's character 30 plus years ago, but for what it tells us about his character now.