GWB and the Guard

I hit this topic only to explain why I don’t see Bush’s Guard service as a big deal.

1.  If the critics took an honest look at how common it is for Guardsmen to miss drill, then make it up later in the year, they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.

2.  As to the charges that he joined the Guard to avoid Vietnam, yes, he could have joined an active duty unit.  But, he had a desire to work in politics at the same time, and active duty doesn’t allow for that.  If he was truly trying to guarentee that he wouldn’t see service in Vietnam, he wouldn’t have chosen to be a pilot.  After all, at the time he joined, his unit was on an active rotation to SE Asia.

3.  And finally, drop the AWOL crap.  Those who fling around charges of “AWOL” and “deserter” don’t have any clue what those terms mean.  Guys who go AWOL or desert end up in Leavenworth, not honorably discharged.