Bump!
How many were on the list to be a journalist in 'Nam in front of AlGore?
We'll never know, or hear about it...
This is a non-story. Just because you're in the National Guard does not mean you will not get called to active duty. *Plenty* of Guardsmen went to Vietnam. Plenty more have gone to Europe (three times counting Bosnia), Africa, Japan, Korea, The Persian Gulf, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and etc.
The man could've seen battle. There is some conspiracy stuff going around that Bush was 'missing' because he was possibly driving F-104 flights into Cambodia from Thailand. I have *no* proof of that at all - just passing along hearsay.
The point is: he served and he never pissed on his country like Kerry did.
Actually it was designed to shoot down Bears, Badgers and Bisons. All Soviet Bomber aircraft, not fighters. Still, with that big delta wing, it could do pretty well in a dogfight, although with the rather wimpy engine it had, you probably had to watch your energy state really closely.
No, they don't. But they do care about things like reaction time, and spatial awareness, that may be either genetic or learned at an early age. George H.W. Bush was pilot too you know. He flew Avenger Torpedo bombers in the Pacific in WW-II. At one time he was the youngest carrier pilot in the Navy. He was also shot down and rescued by a US submarine. There's a film clip of him coming aboard the sub during that rescue.
BTTT