New Book: Kerry ‘Unfit for Command’

I think the charges and counter-charges regarding Kerry's and Bush's military records are ridiculous on both sides.Looking at Kerry's FITREPS on his own site, it is clear he was a competent junior officer.As to Bush not going to Vietnam - recall that peak US deployment in Vietnam was roughly 550,000 out of roughly 3,000,000 active duty forces. US forces were deployed elsewhere in the world (e.g. 300,000 in Germany at the time), and it is unexceptional that a veteran of the Vietnam era would never have been in Vietnam. Especially an F-102 pilot, which was a bomber interceptor unsuited for operations in Vietnam.

What's your source for this ? Your use of the term "suspended" raises questions. Suspended from flight status ?There's nothing here. Bush was trained on the F-102, which toward the end of his term of service, was obsolete and being phased out. The ANG was being downsized as a whole, and likely wasn't interested in the expense of retraining Bush (and other F-102 pilots) on other aircraft types. So he served out his time as a ground officer.Qualifying in a new fighter type isn't like picking between a Chevy and a Ford at the rental car counter. Months of retraining are required.