Hodges didn't retire in 1971 - he was still the commanding officer of the 147th in August of 1972, because he signed the order grounding Dubya for not taking his flight physical.
It was Staudt that retired, and that was in March of 1972 (18 months before he was supposedly pressuring Killian to "sugar coat" his evaluation of Bush).
Thanks for the correction.
Major General Bobby W. Hodges enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in June 1953. After primary, basic and advanced pilot training, he spent two and a half-years at Misawa Air Base, Japan, with the 4th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. While stationed at Misawa, he was a member of the 4th Fighter Squadron’s Rocket Team flying F-86D’s. In Far East Air Force competition, the team placed second and General Hodges tied for first place in the individual category.
In September 1957, General Hodges became an air technician with the 147th Fighter Interceptor Group stationed at Ellington AFB in Houston, Texas. He served in a variety of command and staff positions and in January 1968, he was named Deputy Commander for Operations and Base Operations Supervisor.
In July 1968, General Hodges began a 90-day voluntary tour of duty in Southeast Asia. He participated in the “Palace Alert” program of the Air Force, a program using Air National Guard pilots flying F-102 interceptor aircraft in Southeast Asia. During his tour of duty, General Hodges flew 51 combat missions out of South Vietnam and Northern Thailand for a total of 101 combat flying hours.
In May 1969, he assumed command of the 147th Fighter Interceptor Group and under his command the unit carried out its air defense mission of the upper Texas Gulf Coast in an exceptional manner. He also assumed command of Ellington AFB as an additional duty when the Air Force closed out its host base responsibility in March 1975. He continued in this dual role until his reassignment as commander of the 136th Air Refueling Wing, Texas Air National Guard, Hensley Field.
Under General Hodges command, the 136th Air Refueling Wing accomplished two significant deployments to the European Theater. During those deployments, General Hodges was cited for outstanding leadership as the wing accomplished 356 tactical airlift employment sorties, carrying 701.6 tons of cargo, 2,056 passengers and dropped 1,374 paratroopers…with no safety deviations.