Bush's Reserve Resignation Cited 'Inadequate Time' -Reuters

[Rose Siding]

MIAMI (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites), accused by Democrats of shirking his duty in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, wrote that he had "inadequate time" to meet future Reserve commitments in his Nov. 1974 letter of resignation released on Wednesday.

The letter was released by the White House on the eve of the first presidential debate, in Miami on Thursday, between Bush and his Democratic challenger, John Kerry (news - web sites), a decorated Vietnam veteran.

In the one-page "Tender of Resignation," Bush hand-wrote the following reason for resigning: "Inadequate time to fullfill (sic) possible future commitments."
..........
The letter of resignation, signed by Bush, was sent from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and addressed to the Colorado unit.

The White House said Bush sent the letter after having already been honorably discharged from the Texas Air National Guard.

The White House said it received the document earlier on Wednesday from the Pentagon (news - web sites) from Bush's personal file.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&ncid=696&e=3&u=/nm/20040930/pl_nm/campaign_bush_guard_dc

[Dookus]

1. how does

one "resign" from military duty?

[faithnotgreed]

3. spot on question....

[jdj]

69. This is really good to know, because my ex is supposed to go to Bahrain

and she is just SO busy with school and stuff. It's good to know that she can just quit and devote all her energy to school. They had initially told her the Navy would not pay for it because she's a reservist, then she found out that they are supposed to pay for it, but they have told her that the Bush admin has no money designated for the G.I.Bill account, so even though she is supposed to get money, there is no money for her to get, because the G.I. Bill
"account" is empty. Unfreakingbelievable.

[DemoTex]

4. One does not.

Period.

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. You know Officers RESIGN their commision

that is what they are referring to here.

But Lt Bush should not have been able to resing his commision early without some penalty, including paying back for training

Now enlisted do not resign.

Oh and usually resigning the commision comes before discharge... ask one day and I will relate one of them pesky exceptions... it was unique, trust me, and does nto involve George either... or a spoiled brat for that matter or a well connected spoiled drugged out brat

[Rose Siding]

8. I dunno but this is surely why the WH released that earlier statement

In a just world, the very fact that these docs keep trickling out after they have all supposedly have been released, would be a scandal all on its own.

Whatever this new one means will have to be addressed by those more familiar with things military than I am.

[ItsMyParty]

10. you didn't--you fucked up you were sent to Nam - and what's with the

Colorado thing...........how how the fuck did Colorado get involved with this?? I thought it was Texas and then Alabama (where he didn't show) and then Mass. where he didn't show. How the hell did he resign to the Guard in Colorado???-------the fucker stinks and Amureka is too dumb to realize it.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

21. Colorado unit = disciplinary unit?

[Demoiselle]

30. Colorado unit was a "paper" unit...Disciplinary limbo of a sort..

...I got this tidbit of info from right here on D.U. months ago. Apparently you were officially held in the records of the Colorado unit while they decided what to do with you. (Ordinary slackers probably went to Viet Nam!)

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. Correct, common thing at the time

activation to the regular military

[PsN2Wind]

22. When I was in the Air Force

they had a disciplinary unit in Colorado but I didn't know that it was only for those that "had the time".
Bush got an "Honorary Discharge". They couldn't discipline the son of a political bigwig so they gave him an "Honorary Discharge". Much like an Honorary Degree, you don't have to spend all that boring time in class and doing homework.

[Rose Siding]

26. This was supposedly written after his discharge....

and relates to "future committments". Would that refer to Reserves rather than TANG?

[juslikagrzly]

41. Honorary or Honorable?

I've seen both talked about. Are we confusing terms or did he really receive an honorary discharge. Or....is this sarcasm and I'm just sleepy?

[sam sarrha]

28. Family friends there in the military???????

[Doohickie]

61. Colorado is the ARPC

Air Force Reserve Personnel Center. I think it may be the national headquarters for the Air Force Reserves? Can someone help me here?

[Zorra]

17. If you are a spoiled rich kid and your father is a Texas Congressman

it's a piece of cake.

But, gosh, no, Bu$h didn't get any special treatment in the National Guard. He just, la la la, handed in his resignation to the military and they simply, la la la, let him go on his merry way, exactly like they would never, ever do for any of us "regular ol' poor folks whose daddy ain't a wealthy Texas Congressman.

Fortunate Son
(John Fogerty)

Some folks are born
made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief",
they point the cannon right at you.

It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no senator's son.
It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no fortunate one.

Some folks are born
silver spoon in hand,
Lord don't they help themselves.
But when the tax man comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale.

It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no millionaire's son.
It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no fortunate one.

Some folks inherit
star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war.
And when you ask them,
"How much should we give?"
They only answer "More! More! More!"

It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no military son.
It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no fortunate one.

It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no Fortunate Son.

[LibProf]

37. Could be wrong, I could be right

I think you have to resign your commission and that might what the letter is referring to. You can be honorably discharged, but still hold your commission. Seems that I recall a fairly recent story about some fellow who got a surprise call to report for duty because he still held his commission.

I could be wrong, I could be right. I could be black, I could be white - PIL

[p.lukasiak]

45. explanation of document

in the venacular, this document was Bush's way of saying "I don't care how much sh*t hits the fan, don't ever ask me to serve my country."

The document is dated November, 1974. At this point Bush was assigned to ARPC(ISLRS).

NOTE: THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A PUNISHMENT UNIT.

ISLRS was the "Inactive Status List Reserve Section".

When someone was a commissioned officer, and their Military Service Obligation expired, they were still expected to be available in case of a national emergency. Officers who were assigned to a "Selected Reserve" unit (i.e. an Air National Guard unit, or an Air Force Reserve unit that trained regularly) were assigned to "Individual Ready Reserve" (specifically ARPC(RRPS)) as "Reinforcement Designees" at the end of their MSO. RRPS was the Ready Reserve Personnel Section, but these officers were no longer required to train, but were required to be available for activation upon Presidential orders in the event of a national Emergency.

However, if an officer was assigned to the Air Reserve Personnel Center at the time their MSO ran out (as Bush was), they were assigned to the ISLRS. Basically, ISLRS was like being retired, except without the benefits. It was merely a LIST of people that the Air Force could call on if the sh*t REALLY hit the fan, and the Air Force needed more officers and experienced pilots PRONTO, and couldn't wait 18 months to train a new fighter-interceptor pilot. It took an act of Congress to mobilize the ISLRS (just as it would take an act of Congress to mobilize members of the Retired Reserves.) Unless you requested to be removed from ISLRS, you would stay on the list for three years.

In essence, Bush was on a list of people on whom the government could call in the event of a severe National Security threat. There was absolutely NO RISK of him being mobilized, or required to lift a finger to do anything, UNLESS there was such an extraordinary National Emergency that it required that every trained Air Force pilot they could find get back in uniform.

And Bush said "screw that, I don't care HOW BAD it gets, I'm not going to help defend the USA even though I DO have the training that this nation would need."

[p.lukasiak]

46. Breaking News that I can't post....

Remember how the Texas Air National Guard supposedly didn't have typewriters that could do proportionate spacing in 1972...

well, the Pentagon just released (last Friday) the proof that TXANG did have proportionate spacing typewriters....IN 1971


http://www.glcq.com/docs/(71-02-19)recognition_memo.pdf

This is among the documents (page 6) released by the Pentagon last friday

http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/bush_records/24sep04release.pdf

its a proportionate-spaced font (possibly the SAME font used in the Killian memos) used in an official memo put out by the Texas Air National Guard.

Look toward the bottom. There are 33 characters in "FOR THE ADJUTANT GENERAL OF TEXAS". Look at the line directly above it. There are FORTY-TWO characters contained in the same horizontal space as "FOR THE ADJUTANT GENERAL OF TEXAS".

WHY was this document not released in February? Remember, ALL the documents were vetted by the White House before they were released...and there was NOTHING in this document that fell under any of the "privacy exceptions" that are found in the FOIA.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

52. Good find on the typewriters.

[Greyskye]

70. I think you counted wrong

I've just counted the characters in the line you cite. I'm coming up with 33 characters in both of the lines.

[xray s]

2. I wonder how many Nat'l Guard and Reservists in Iraq would like to resign

W.

What a butt head.

[bagnana]

15. They should send letters of resignation

"due to insufficient time". How incredible.

[Just Me]

27. If they refuse to show up for the "pee pee" tests...can they pass,..

,...back to state-side?

I see it this way: if the Commander-in-Chief can get away with lies,....

,...well, hell,...the rest of us can, too!!!

LIE YOUR WAY TOWARDS SURVIVAL AND FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY!!!!

[EndElectoral]

5. Is this legit? how does one choose to resign from the guard?

[LiberalFighter]

6. How did he figure he could resign?

[liveoaktx]

7. How odd-the AP has this, too? And didn't mention it first??????

Since the Pentagon was supposed to release ALL of his records by this last Friday, they would have this as well.... are they about to come out with something that the WH is trying to put out first?

[maryallen]

32. Ding! Ding! Ding!

A Winner!

I bet someone's got the goods on the disciplinary unit.

[Pirate Smile]

9. How many times have they said they have released everything?

Weren't they given a deadline by a judge to release everything? That deadline is already past.

[merh]

11. Can those reservists that have been honorably discharged and

have sense been called back to duty send similiar letters to their unit commanders?

*, the clown-n-chief, set the precedent and has been alowed to get away with "resigning" so all of the reservists should be allowed to do the same thing.

[EndElectoral]

12. hoe could he have been honorably discharged IF he had "inadequate time? "

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. One more letter of resignation and I'll call it even.

[Catshrink]

14. It's a Rovian plot...

They released it before the debate hoping that Kerry would take the bait and address it. Then the little jackass can come back with some snappy reply that makes him look cocky and lovable to the sheeple.

Would anyone put this past Bush's Brain?

[nostalgicaboutmyfutr]

18. two points

maybe he has experience writing letters of resignation that will hold him well when the fan gets dirty and we learn all the secrets...

secondly, Kerry should just ignore this...carville on the other hand should not.

[Rose Siding]

25. Beyond Kerry, is it intended to knock the media off the debate topic or...

is the debate intended to knock the media off the topic of the letter :crazy:

The timing IS NOT accidental.

[funnymanpants]

31. Absolutely

Karl Rove bugged his own office on the eve of a debate in Texas to take the media attention away from himself.

The timing of this is so obvious. I don't think Kerry would be so stupid as to fall for it. The worst thing he can do is bring up Viet Nam again. Let the media do that--he should stick to Iraq.

[nostalgicaboutmyfutr]

16. I think the real question is ....

did 'he' really write it? was it left hand or right hand writing?

we better examine the ink to make sure it was available at the time...are their any palm prints?

Could be another hoax....do draw off the press when he sucks up royaly during the debate...um, i mean when he wins the debate (i can't remember if we are saying he is a good debater, or festering bucket of dung in debating... :) )

[Rose Siding]

20. ROFL

Yes! We should get as many internet experts as possible to verify its authenticity.

For instance, are there polysyllabic phrases? Check for spelling.... crayons? Large or small? What else?

EDIT: I'm the internet expert! There IS a spelling error. HE WROTE IT!

[Eye and Monkey]

23. Is there cocaine residue on the paper? If not, it's a forgery.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

19. The Guard was cutting into FratBoy's drinkin' and druggin' time.

[Rose Siding]

24. "Inadequate time to fullfill (sic) possible future committments"

Uh...outside of the sad fact that he's a college grad who can't spell, isn't he just saying "I don't have time for this"?

More than anything so far, this makes me suspicious of the CBS fiasco. The issue/scandal was blunted just before the CIC was popped for having his own "other priorities" and getting it IN WRITING.

[Francine Frensky]

53. typo -- should have said "inadequate brains"

2stupid to be president.

[David Zephyr]

29. Rate This Hot Breaking Story a Five at Yahoo Now.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&ncid=696&e=3&u=/nm/20040930/pl_nm/campaign_bush_guard_dc

[acmavm]

38. 12:02 a.m. CST:

You have given the news article Bush's Reserve Resignation Cited 'Inadequate Time' a rating of 5.

Its current average rating is 4.07 with 191 vote(s).

[Astrochimp]

64. Its current average rating is 3.59 with 730 vote(s)

@ 4:00 CST.

Kick It!

[Fridays Child]

33. Where's the letter? Has anyone seen it yet? Why would he tender a...

...resignation after his discharge? Can a Guardsman resign from his or her service commitment? Even if it's possible to do so, how could "possible future commitments" possibly trump a six-year wartime commitment to fly fighter jets?

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. I am betting this is hsi letter resinging his commision

as a Lt in the US Air Force (or rather the reserve) Usually the letter of resignatiion PRECEDES your discharge.

Yep small details, huh?

[Bridget Burke]

47. He wasn't in the Air Force (or the Reserve)

He was in the National Guard. They're separate organizations.

[p.lukasiak]

51. sorry

But when Bush was discharged from the Texas Air National Guard, he was reassigned to the authority of the Air Reserve Personnel Center in Denver, Colorado, and thus came under the direct authority of the Air Force Reserves.

http://www.glcq.com/bush_at_arpc1.htm

[Bridget Burke]

55. Thanks for the correction.

Are you "the" P Lukasiak?

(& at the start of the 70's I was working in a no-frills Houston law office--typing on an IBM Executive with proportional spacing.)

[w4rma]

39. Don't touch this with a 10 foot pole until a few days after the debate. nt

[Bridget Burke]

56. No need to avoid this....

It just adds more detail to the story whose basic outlines have been known for some time. (1) Bush supported the war but didn't want to go. (2) Family influence got him a safe appointment. (3) He couldn't even fulfill that commitment.

He was useless then & he's useless now. Then, steer the conversation to his "accomplishments" in recent years.

[n2mark]

40. Hmmmm

There is a foul smell coming from my computer.....

[Carolab]

42. DOESN'T MATTER

STILL doesn't explain the GAP 1972-1973

Letter dated 1974

[oldtime dfl_er]

43. I love the last line of this story!

Apparently from the Air National Guard's OWN website:


"The National Guard and reserves, rarely called up during the Vietnam War, came to be regarded as "draft havens for relatively affluent young white men," the Air National Guard says in a history on its Internet site. "

[SoCalDem]

44. He was filmed writing it...Clip HERE

[goclark]

71. ROTFL

[Laughing Mirror]

48. "Released by the White House" is all you have to know

Because it is not what a document "says" that is important, it's where the document comes from, who put it out and why. That's the story.

[MagickMuffin]

49. He's just a slow learner

Poor Boy George, he's always late when it comes time to file his paperwork.

Files his resignation after he is already discharged.

Then he waits 34 weeks before filing his SEC documents after he got his insider trading tip when he baled from Harken. Of course that wasn't his fault, his attorney is to blame for that incident.

And of course in grade school his dog ate his homework!

Oh, he's so lucky, never has to take responsibility or the blame

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

50. All I know is this...

there are about 140,000 men and women in Iraq who want the same fucking deal.

[andino]

54. AMEN!!

n/t

[October]

57. Maybe our 130,000+ troops could "tender

their resignation" too...

I'd love it!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

58. Lead be example

Bush is a failure on that alone.

[Supersedeas]

59. this just in from the Pentagon--on the eve of the DEBATES

[robbedvoter]

60. Resign AFTER discharge? How very gracious of him!

Rate this up - excellent article!

[Supersedeas]

62. Very odd--and the sound of crickets from TV Media

[Calico Jack Rackham]

63. Officers can only resign

AFTER they've fullfilled their initial commitment.

[SKKY]

65. As a 12 year Naval Veteran, this really pisses me off.

..."Inadequate time to fulfill possible future obligations" to me means, "Sorry folks, but I just don't have the time to take part in your little war with the yellow folk over there." I think it's been proved that his pampered white behind should have been recalled to active duty when he failed to fulfill his obligations. If he didn't have the time, why should I? Well, I'll tell you why- it's because I have more intestinal fortitude in my left ear than he has in his whole body. I hope Kerry smokes his ass tonight.

[Qutzupalotl]

66. It's a forgery

because I can type the same thing in MS Word in 15 minutes.

[steely]

67. I don't see how he met his initial obligation...

I read the above comments, but somehow he had to have been given special dispensation in order to be placed on a list from which he could remove himself by simply writing a letter.

Officer resignation does preceed discharge, unless someone got out perhaps as an enlisted man, then re-entered duty as an officer for example.

I was sitting in the ARMY IRR, having met my obligation (initial commitment), when I was asked to report for a physical. Having no intent to ever going back in, I decided to resign. Then Desert Shield and Storm started, and then they turned my resignation down - yet I was never activated. Only later did I retry w/ success.

Shrubs road was paved for him no doubt.

[wishlist]

68. He has a pattern of shirking responsibility and making excuses

It really irks me that the RW and media consider Kerry's very responsible actions as a young man to be fair game for criticism about his character, but babyBush just keeps getting a pass for everything he did because he admits being young and irresponsible and an alcoholic until age 40.

[donkeyotay]

72. He's the shirker in chief

Apparently 9-11 didn't change everything; it just exempted The Shirker from ever having to explain anything. Kerry, of course, will get the full media anal probe.