Lt. George W. Bush
IN DEFENSE OF THE AIR NATIONAL GUARD
The 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron was Lt. George W. Bush’s Squadron
Vance J. Beaudreau - September 20, 2004- - The 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron which is attached to the 147th Fighter Interceptor Group, based at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas and is currently flying F-16s. However, at the time that George W. Bush enlisted and completed pilot training, the 111th was flying F-102 Delta Daggers.
Retired Air Force Colonel Ed Atkins, who flew fighters for 20 years said: “The reality is that it's a hazardous business that will kill you —long before any enemy gets the chance to —if you aren't up to the job. "Anybody who thinks that flying fighters is not exhausting physically, demanding intellectually, and tough emotionally just has no clue about the complexity of air combat."
Lt. Bush’s opportunity to fly jets and serve his country came through the Air National Guard when he was 22 years old. Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Air Force Base in May 1968 at which time there was an acute shortage of pilots. Just like Lt. Bush, my goal as a young man was to fly high performance jet fighter aircraft –– both of us realized our dream. I might have been just a dumb fighter pilot but I don’t remember looking ahead (and I’m sure Lt. Bush didn’t either) to what missions we could be assigned -- peacetime or wartime. All we wanted to do as young men was to fly these magnificent flying machines (jets) and enjoy the opportunity to serve our country. (Contributing to the Air National Guard’s Air Defense mission, Lt. Bush flew hundreds of hours in the F-102 -- the world's first supersonic all-weather jet interceptor aircraft; he served his country protecting the United States).
Retired Col. William J. (Bill) Campenni, a former senior Virginia Air National Guard commander, who served with George W. Bush in the Texas Air Guard was one of President Bush's squadron mates. He and Bush were young lieutenants and pilots in the 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the Texas Air Guard from 1970 to 1971, Campenni said, serving under the same flight and squadron commanders.
Col. Bill Campenni says Bush volunteered for Vietnam combat service in a volunteer program called Palace Alert that used Air National Guard pilots flying in the F-102 Delta Dagger interceptor jet in Vietnam.
The Air Guard advised Bush he did not have the desired 500 hours of flight time as a pilot to qualify for Palace Alert duty, and, in any event, the program was winding down and not accepting more volunteers as an over supply of pilots had developed.
Bob Harmon is another of Bush's former squadron mates. At the time, Harmon was an instructor pilot. He remembers Bush as a "young, affable guy" and an above-average pilot, very good for his level of experience.
"We flew together two or three times a month." It was dangerous duty. Harmon said that a couple of pilots were killed in F-102 accidents while Bush was there. Pilot attrition ran 3% - 5% per year.
The first American jet fighters to be deployed to Vietnam were F-102s of the 509th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. When Lt. Bush signed up for fighters and joined the 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, he stood ready to deploy to Vietnam, as did every other Air National Guard pilot. In fact, he tried to volunteer for Vietnam.
Of the four pilots I spoke to who flew with Bush in the Texas days, Fred Bradley knew him best. They had met before going off to the year-long ordeal of pilot school, and entered the 111th at about the same time. Both were junior lieutenants without a lot of flying experience. But the inexperience didn't prevent Bush —— along with Bradley —— from going to their squadron leaders to see if they could get into a program called "Palace Alert." "There were four of us lieutenants at the time, and we were all fairly close. Two of them had more flight time than the president and me, said Bradley." All four volunteered for Vietnam. Bush and Bradley were turned away, and the two more senior pilots went to Vietnam.
Joe Glavin, another member of Dubya's squadron said, “When we had to sit alerts, there were two pilots, and two crew chiefs that sat out in the alert barn. George was like everybody else, except while George was over in a corner reading somebody's autobiography, the rest of us were watching Hee Haw." Glavin explained that because their squadron was an active duty squadron, they always had two aircraft --— armed and fueled —-- standing on the taxiway on what is called "plus five" alert. From the time the horn blows, until the time the aircraft was wheels-up on takeoff had to be five minutes or less.
"The winding down of the Vietnam War in 1971 provided a flood of exiting active-duty pilots for these instructor jobs, making part-timers like Lt. Bush and me somewhat superfluous," Col. Bill Campenni said. And in addition, the Houston unit was changing from an operational fighter squadron to a training squadron with a new airplane, the F-101 Voodoo.
"Any pilot could have left the Air Force or the Air Guard with ease after 1972 before his commitment was up," he said, because there just wasn't room for all of them anymore." Also, the mission switch required that more pilots be available for full-time instructor duty rather than part-time, traditional reservists with outside employment, he said. Bush was a part-time Guard member, as most Guard airmen were. In May 1972, records show he received permission to perform nonflying duties in a Guard unit in Montgomery, Alabama where Bush wanted to work on a political campaign.
Some people have slandered our National Guard or at least the National Air Guard as a means for young men to “avoid service”. "Avoid service?" Campenni questioned; "Yeah, tell that to those guys; six of those with whom I served in those years never made their 30th birthdays because they died in crashes flying air-defense missions" in the United States, Campenni said.
[Defending the petrochemical complex of the gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana over the international waters of the Gulf of Mexico, mainly from Cuban Mig fighter bombers who frequently flew menacingly within a few miles of the Gulf coast testing our defenses no doubt and Russian aircraft associated with the Russian fleet which also would cruise within a few miles of our Gulf coastline. Our ANG boys flew on the edge of combat with loaded guns and missiles to use if required due to Soviet intrusion.]
"Our Texas [Air National Guard] unit lost several planes right there in Houston during Lt. Bush's tenure, with fatalities," he said. "Just strapping into one of those obsolescing F-102s was risking one's life." This service was very hazardous even in peace time.
"There was [another] big exception as to using the Guard to avoid the draft," Campenni said, "and that was for those who wanted to fly, as pilots or crew members." Air Guard pilot duty required up to 2½ years of active-duty service for training, he said. They then usually served another couple of years actually flying in combat ready units. Shirking duty? Draftees were only required to serve for two years.
Authors Comments: After completing my active duty requirement flying F-100 jet fighter bombers from the 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 18th TAC Wing stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, I returned to begin civilian life in 1959. In my job hunt an opportunity arose to be a pilot for the Texas Air National Guard 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron flying F-102s. The job paid well and would have allowed me, with scheduling, to hold down a civilian sales job in chemical sales at the same time. Air Defense of Texas was serious business in 1960 and I was very interested in that opportunity. Although I was a finalist for the job another pilot with F-102 experience got the job. I did sell chemicals and I was later promoted in the inactive reserve to Captain and eventually honorably discharged.
Vance J. Beaudreau - (979) 361-0173 or www.beaudre@tca.net