Bush’s drills with the Alabama Guard confirmed

The White House yesterday released military records that it said demonstrate conclusively that President Bush completed the required drills leading to an honorable discharge from the Texas Air National Guard in 1973.

“These documents clearly show that the president fulfilled his duties,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan as he waved copies of smudgy, 31-year-old pay and accreditation records stored on microfilm in a U.S. government military archives in Colorado.

The president had been dogged by accusations that he did not fulfill make-up requirements for missed Guard drills, and an officer of the Alabama Air National Guard, where the make-up drills were scheduled, said he did not remember Mr. Bush.

But further confirmation was supplied yesterday by a woman who dated the young George W. Bush in 1972 who says she distinctly remembers the young pilot visiting Montgomery that year to fulfill his Air National Guard commitment.

Emily Marks Curtis told The Times that she and Mr. Bush met in the summer of 1972 when he went to Montgomery from Texas to work in the U.S. Senate campaign of Winton Blount, a Bush family friend. She said the two became good friends.

After that election, she said, Mr. Bush returned to Texas. A few weeks later, he telephoned to say he was returning to Montgomery to complete drilling days at an Alabama squadron to which he had been transferred that year.

It has been standard procedure for many years for National Guard units to excuse members from scheduled drills for employment reasons, with the stipulation that missed drill time be made up.

“He called to tell me he was coming back to finish up his National Guard duty,” said Mrs. Curtis, who now lives in New Orleans. “I can say categorically he was there, and that’s why he came back.”

She said that he rented an apartment for a two-week stay and that she met him for dinner several times.

“I didn’t see him go to work. I didn’t see him come home from work,” she said. “He told me that was why he was in Montgomery. There is no other reason why he would come back to Montgomery.”

At the White House yesterday, Mr. McClellan criticized Democrats who have raised an issue that the president thought was settled during his days as Texas governor and in the 2000 presidential race.

“There are some out there that were making outrageous, baseless accusations,” the press secretary said. “It was a shame that they brought it up four years ago. It was a shame that they brought it up again this year.”

When a television reporter accused Mr. McClellan of not answering his questions, the usually stoic Mr. McClellan responded tartly: “I’m sorry, John, but, you know, this is an important issue that some chose to raise in the context of an election year. And the facts are important for people to know. And if you don’t want to know the facts, that’s fine, but I want to share the facts with you.”

The records show that Mr. Bush earned sufficient drilling points to earn an honorable discharge. They also show he drilled two days in October 1972 and four days in November 1972 when he had transferred to the Alabama Guard unit.

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