[stuartcr]

Who really cares...besides, everyone from that era knows why and how people got into the Nat Guard.

[WHBates]

Your right about who really cares. But I was around at the time and many of my friends served in the guard. Many later became cops and firemen, I never thought of them as cowards? I would be surprised if they knew anyone special.

I lived in Chicago at the time and if someone said that he became a electrician or carpenter I would really believe he had some strings pulled. You definitely had to know someone or pay someone. LOL

[muawiyah]

Why and how folks got into the Army National Guard and why and how they got into the Air National Guard were a bit different.

Indiana Air NG and (as a previous posting shows) the Texas Air NG show that pilots were actually involved with flying to Viet Nam. There were probably other ANG units that had pilots doing the same thing.

I was coming out of the Infantry and was told to take a position in a Reserve unit or an Army National Guard unit in Indiana. I asked for a waiver because my employment was in Washington DC (where there were NO National Guard or Reserve openings of any kind at the time the area being overrun with draft dodgers of every stripe.)

My entire 4 years Reserve obligation was waived!

Dan Quayle got one of the positions I had rejected. He had not needed to use influence at all at that time!