Pentagon releases Bush military records

The Pentagon has  released what it called newly-found records concerning President George W

The Pentagon has  released what it called newly-found records concerning President George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard.

The 17 pages of documents released last night show that Mr Bush flew 336 hours in a fighter jet, most recently in April 1972, and ranked 22nd out of 53 pilots when he finished flight training at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia in 1969, the New York Timessaid.

Mr Bush's military record is the source of major debate in the run-up to the presidential election. There is a standoff between Mr Bush and the Democrats which is about where, when and how often Mr Bush showed up for National Guard duty in Alabama in 1972 and 1973.

The White House has said Mr Bush transferred to the Alabama Guard, missed some duty and made it up later, and skipped a required physical exam that cost him his pilot's licence because his type of jet was unavailable in Alabama, it said.

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Neither the White House nor the Pentagon could entirely explain why the new documents were not made public in February, when the White House said it had disclosed everything that existed about Bush's Guard service, the newspaper said.

Other documents were released by the Pentagon in July. They included two faded computerized payroll sheets showing Mr Bush was not paid during the latter part of 1972 and offered no evidence to place Bush in Alabama during the latter part of 1972.

Some Guard officers have said they have no recollection of ever seeing Mr Bush in Alabama.

Mr Bush was the son of a US congressman at a time when National Guard service was seen as a way for the privileged to avoid being drafted for Vietnam War duty.

The release comes as a new Democratic group, Texas for Truth, plans to begin running television commercials this week questioning Mr Bush's Guard attendance.

A Republican group with ties to the Bush campaign, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, has said in its own commercials that Democrat presidential candidate Senator John Kerry lied about his Vietnam war record.