NO-GO:Bush wanted to fly in Vietnam,colonel says

[tobius]

RICHMOND

A former senior Virginia Air National Guard commander, who served with George W. Bush in the Texas Air Guard, says that Bush looked into volunteering for Vietnam combat service but was told he did not have the required flight experience.


William J. Campenni, a retired Air Guard colonel, also said that such absences as Bush's from his unit were common in the Air Guard during the period of Bush's service and still are.
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Campenni, 63, lives in Herndon, Va., and has participated in Republican Party politics in Northern Virginia. He retired as an Air Force pilot in 1998, last flying with the 192nd Fighter Wing based at Richmond International Airport.

According to Campenni, Bush inquired about participating 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 that 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

Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Air Force Base in May 1968. In May 1972, records show that he received permission to perform nonflying duties in Alabama.

"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."