George Bush AWOL Deserter 2004 (Part 2)
Two days after George Bush promised Tim Russert and the entire world that he
would release "everything" about his military records, the White House
surprised reporters with two sets of new documents, along with a cover memo by Col.
Albert C. Lloyd Jr. (ret.), a Bush supporter and expert on National Guard
documents.
(The second set of documents were illegible, which only fueled the
frustration of the reporters. The White House promised to post more legible versions on
their Web site, but as of the midnight the only place they could be found was
on "unofficial" White House site at FoxNews.com.)
The first set of documents included the documents first published by
Democrats.com on 2-10-2000 - notably the "untorn document."
(Not surprisingly, McClellan refused to credit Democrats.com for discovering
these documents, and instead claimed he was revealing them for the very first
time. Since "shame" is one of McClellan's favorite epithets, we can't resist
saying "shame on you" to McClellan for committing plagiarism.)
[document image]
Bush's supporters love this document, because it includes two entries that
roughly correspond to Bush's time in Alabama during the fall campaign of 1972:
Oct. 28-29 and Nov. 11-14.
Of course, these dates do not correspond to the dates he was specifically
ordered to report to Col. Turnipseed - Oct. 7-8 and Nov. 4-5. But Bush's
supporters don't worry about such details.
But what exactly is this "untorn" document?
The White House is trying to label it as a pay document. But it is not. There
isn't a dollar amount anywhere on it. It is clearly labeled "ARF Statement of
Points Earned." ARF (Air Reserve Forces) does not pay Guardsmen - that is the
job of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). ARF simply tracks
their points towards retirement. The "untorn" document is a retirement
document, not a pay document.
Apparently, Bush received retirement points during this service year, the 5th
of his 6 years. But did he earn them by actually reporting for duty and
performing a useful service to defend his country? Or did Bush go AWOL and receive
the credits as a gift from a friendly superior officer who wanted to make sure
he got an Honorable Discharge - as Democrats.com has argued? That's what
every White House reporter wanted to know.
The Smoking Microfiche
If the ARF document above is not a pay record - and it is not - then it
cannot answer this simple question. So by a process of elimination, there is only
one other record provided by the White House that could be called a "pay"
record for the fall of 1972.
This document is below. It has no name, but it appears to be a printed copy
of a microfiche. The only description appears below the microfiche in ink,
labeled as "1972 - 4th Q."
The top half is difficult to discern, but it could be a pay document of some
kind. For example, the upper right corner says "DAILY PAY" and below that
2763, which could be $27.63. But without knowing the name and number of this form,
the abbreviated codes it contains, and the agency that produced it, we cannot
say for sure.
But McClellan insisted he was releasing "pay" records, so this is the only
document provided by the White House that could possibly show whether Bush was
"paid" for the 4th quarter of 1972 (September-December), when Bush was
allegedly in Alabama.
And though the document is difficult to read, one thing is clear beyond a
shadow of a doubt: Bush was not "paid" for any dates in the 4th Quarter of 1972.
[image]
The crucial section is the bottom, where the dates are clearly arrayed. Here
is a schematic diagram, leaving out dates without entries to save space. The
headings for the columns after day 31 are unclear, so we gave it our best guess.
[chart image]
Here are some assumptions we must make to interpret the data:
1. The "normal" entries occur between days 1-30.
2. Day 31 appears to be a "dual use" column. In months with 31 days, there
could be a numeric entry if points were earned on that date. In the months with
fewer than 31 days (Feb, Apr, Jun, Sep, Nov), "99" appears to be inserted as a
placeholder.
Using these assumptions, we can draw the following conclusions.
1. Bush's last date of "pay" was April 16, 1972. (The only entries after that
date are on April 31, Jun 31, Sep 31, and Nov 31. Since those are all 30-day
months, and the entries all say 99, we can conclude that these are
"placeholder" numbers on the form, not "pay" dates for duty served.) This corresponds
with his known service record.
2. Bush was not "paid" on the dates claimed by the White House in the 4th
Quarter: October 28-29 or November 11-14.
The bottom line is clear:
Bush was never paid for service during his time in Alabama
Verdict: AWOL and Deserter."
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