Bush Worked Campaign While in Guard By CHRIS WILLIAMS, © 2000 Associated Press Writer

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GEORGE W. BUSH EXPLAINS THE GAP (1972-73) IN HIS NATIONAL GUARD RECORDS.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Gov. George W. Bush got a transfer while in the Texas Air National Guard to work on a U.S. Senate campaign for six months in Alabama and later left the Guard early to attend Harvard Business School, according to his records.

Traveling on his campaign plane to Ohio Tuesday, Bush said he had fulfilled his Guard duties at irregular intervals. He defended his overall record.

``I served my full obligation with the Texas National Guard. That's why I was honorably discharged,'' Bush said.

His early discharge was not uncommon for pilots or other crewmen who were to leave soon and had been trained on now-obsolete jets, as was Bush's case, said Albert Lloyd Jr., who was personnel director for the Texas Air National Guard from 1969 to 1995 and who reviewed Bush's military records at the request of his campaign.

Bush, the Republican presidential contender, served as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard from May 1968 to October 1973, primarily flying the F-102 Delta Dagger, an aging fighter-interceptor, based at Ellington Air Force Base near Houston.

In May 1972, Bush asked for and received permission to continue his duties in Alabama while he worked as political director on the U.S. Senate campaign of Winton M. Blount, a friend of his father.

It was not the first time Bush had left the Guard for political duties. In November 1968, right after basic training, he worked as a low-level aide for Edward Gurney in his campaign for a Senate seat from Florida, according to a pair of recent biographies of Bush.

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday, after reviewing 160 pages of documents, that Bush's military records indicated he did not did actually perform drills or continue flying while in Alabama.

However, Bush aides provided a payroll document they said indicated Bush served nine days of active duty in Alabama. The record did not say whether Bush was flying or doing other drills.

William Turnipseed, a retired general who commanded the Alabama unit at the time, told the Globe that he did not remember Bush ever reporting for duty.

``Had he reported in, I would have had some recall, and I do not,'' Turnipseed told the Globe. ``I had been in Texas, done my flight training there. If we had a first lieutenant from Texas, I would have remembered.''

Bush said Tuesday that he did report for duty in Alabama. ``I read the comments from the guy who said he doesn't remember me being there, but I remember being there,'' he said.

The Texas governor has previously had to respond to questions about his having served in the Guard during the Vietnam War. He has said that he joined because he wanted to be a pilot, that he had no help from his father's friends in getting in and that ``I was proud of my service.''

Bush returned to his unit at Ellington in November 1972, but did not fly again because his long layoff meant he would have had to spend weeks or months retraining in the F-102, said Lloyd, the former personnel director.

Besides, the Guard was phasing out the F-102, which first flew in 1953, said Lloyd. He said it would have been a waste of time and money to train Bush to fly a newer jet when he had declared his intention to the leave the Guard in May 1974 when his commitment was over.

``When you stop to think about it, why expend dollars on somebody who you are not going to keep?'' Lloyd said.

Bush has said he decided in the summer of 1973 that he wanted to go to Cambridge, Mass., and begin work at Harvard Business School in the fall.

Lloyd said the Guard often granted the pilots and crews of obsolete jets the chance to leave active duty early.

``He was not singled out and given privileged treatment because there were other pilots that were treated the same way,'' Lloyd said.

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