As a lieutenant in the Texas Air National Guard, George Bush insists he
voluntarily stopped flying in 1972 because he simply lost interest in
being a pilot. That explanation has never washed (most pilots would
rather fly than eat), and now a new possibility has emerged; the
Pentagon, suspicious of possible drug or alcohol use, booted Bush from
the cockpit. That's the intriguing scenario laid out in a detailed,
must-read

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/break...e=200431401040

from Sunday's Spokane, WA., Spokesman-Review newspaper.

Pointing to stringent U.S. regulations known as the Human Reliability
Program -- and in place at the time of Bush's spotty service -- the
rules were used to weed out pilots who had access to nuclear weapons.
Pilots such as Bush. According to the paper, HRP was instituted "to
screen military personnel for their mental, physical and emotional
fitness before granting them access to nuclear weapons and delivery
systems. Under the rules, pilots could be removed immediately from the
cockpit for HRP issues."

The Spokesman-Review notes Bush flew F-102s, which routinely carried
conventional warheads, but were also capable of carrying nuclear-tipped
missiles, meaning he'd fall under the HRP rules. The paper also reports
nearly 50,000 pilots were decertified due to HRP between 1975 and 1984.

If Bush was yanked because of the program there ought to be a clear
paper trail in his military records. But no mention was found among the
documents the White House released last month in an effort to quell the
controversy of Bush's missing year from the Texas Air National Guard
between 1972 and 1973.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/20...ard/index.html
Then again, there were lots of things missing from that White House
document dump, such as an Officer Effectiveness Report for Bush's final
year in the Guard. It's among the most important evaluations superiors
do on officers. But according to White House, the document simple does
not exist.

The Spokesman-Review got nowhere with the White House, the Pentagon, or
the National Guard Bureau with its questions about Bush's Guard service,
and any possible HRP connection. It's obvious an information lockdown is
now in effect. Even the National Guard Bureau's Freedom of Information
Act officer has stopped taking requests on Bush's military service.

Still, the article goes a long way in explaining what's always been the
biggest mystery surrounding Bush's questionable Guard service: Why did
he stop flying? When he landed a coveted spot in the Texas Air National
Guard at the height of the Vietnam War in 1968, Bush pledged, "I have
applied for pilot training with the goal of making flying a lifetime
pursuit." Instead, 22 months after the government spent nearly $1
million training him to be a pilot, Bush, with two years left on his
commitment, simply walked away from his aviating career, never flying
after April 1972.

The article wasn't all bad news for Bush. He still has a few Guard
defenders. Retired Brig. Gen. Walter Staudt, the man who got Bush a
direct commission as a second lieutenant straight out of Yale University
in May 1968, is 81 years old and itching for a fight. "I love the guy
[Bush]," he told the Statesman-Review. "I'm so tired of this negative
crap about him that I'd like to volunteer to build a barn and take you
press guys out behind it and kick your asses."

-- Eric Boehlert