George W. Bush military service controversy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Final flights
Flight logs released in September 2004 in response to a lawsuit (see below) showed that Bush, who had been flying solo in the F-102A Delta Dagger, an interceptor, for most of his career, flew nine times in T-33 trainers in February and March 1972 – nearly twice as many times as he had flown in T-33s in the prior 18 months.[12] He also used a flight simulator, and was heavily focused on flying by instruments.[13] The logs also show that on March 12 and April 10 of 1972, Bush took two passes to land the F-102 fighter.[14] Although White House officials could not explain the changes in the flight logs in these final flights, Air Force experts explained there could be several explanations for these changes and attempts to come to any conclusion would be speculation.[12]
The final two entries of Bush's official flight logs show him being assigned to work as an instructional pilot in late May 1972 at a Texas Air National Guard base, although he had left for Alabama in mid-May (see next section) and his pay records show he was not paid for any work on the two dates of the instructional pilot assignment. Coding on the logs showed these assignments were subsequently deleted from the official record.[12]
Flight physical
By regulation, National Guard pilots were required to take and pass an annual physical in order to remain in flight status, in the three months prior to a pilot's birthday (in Bush's case, July 6). Bush did not take this mandatory physical examination in mid-1972, thus ending his pilot's career. He did not fly after April 15, 1972.
As a result of his failure to take his physical, his flight status was suspended by his commander on August 1, 1972, confirmed by Col Bobby Hodges on September 5, 1972 and confirmed again by a National Guard Bureau order on September 29, 1972, which meant he no longer was authorized to fly as a pilot.[15][16][17]
Although he had taken the physical twice previously by flight surgeons, Bush says that he wanted to wait to take the physical until it could be done by his own private doctor. Regulations require that the physical be performed by an Air Force doctor.[18] Air Force Flight Surgeons were assigned to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, where Bush purportedly drilled in October and November 1972 and in January 1973. There is no record of his attendance in the 187th Alabama ANG. The Alabama unit’s commanders say they never saw Bush or any paperwork showing he performed drills there. However a January 1973 document references a dental exam that Bush received at the Alabama base.[19]
There is no record of a physical being taken in either 1972 or in 1973, the last two years in which Bush attended drills. According to his released military records, Bush never flew again as a National Guard pilot after April 1972,
and was suspended from flying on August 1, 1972.[20]