John W. wrote:

> Michael Cash <mikecash@buggerallspammers.com> wrote in message news:<56t9i0h6mka2ib68digp23vkuouj4t69vd@4ax.com>...
> 
>>On 19 Aug 2004 11:18:43 -0700, worthj1970@yahoo.com (John W.) brought
>>down from the Mount tablets inscribed:
>>
>>
>>>mtfester@netMAPSONscape.net wrote in message news:<cg29sj$7q8$3@news.Stanford.EDU>...
>>>
>>>>Kevin Gowen <kgowenNOSPAM@myfastmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Michael Cash wrote:
>>
>> 
>>
>>>>>>On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 21:17:18 -0400, Kevin Gowen
>>>>>><kgowenNOSPAM@myfastmail.com> brought down from the Mount tablets
>>>>>>inscribed:
>>
>> 
>>
>>>>>>>I find it very curious that serving in the National Guard is now 
>>>>>>>considered the equivalent of dodging the draft. Too bad Kerry didn't 
>>>>>>>pick Gephardt as his running mate.
>>
>> 
>>
>>>>>>Yes. Serving in the National Guard is NOT military service. This is
>>>>
>>>>Not until Bush called 'em up.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Yes. I'll be sure to tell ANG LTCOL Uncle Jim that he was not deployed 
>>>>
>>>>You do that; now tell us where Bush served?
>>>>
>>>>And with whom?
>>>>
>>>
>>>Don't forget the 'when'. Very important, particularly when talking
>>>about the national guard of the 1970s (a radically different
>>>organization than today).
>>
>>My father was in the guard then. Was active duty for one hitch in the
>>50s, and went on to retire from the guard.
>>
>>What are some of the ways the guard was radically different back then?
>>
> 
> Sometime in the late 70s early 80s the guard changed. Previously they
> were called into action to fill the void left by active duty troops
> when they went to fight; for example, in the Vietnam conflict, though
> 23,000 guardsmen were called up for a year only ~9,000 actually went
> to Vietnam (I think these are only Army Guard numbers). According the
> Guard's own Website the nature of the guard changed after that time
> (the Air Guard's site goes so far as to say it was popular to join to
> avoid the draft). Also, on About.com it explains that the change was
> in part due to the elimination of the draft, which was a strong source
> of manpower for the military. It was Reagan's defense buildup that
> really modernized the Guard, giving them better weapons and resources.

About.com, eh?

> My father dropped out of the reserves because he felt they weren't
> worth his time. He says they weren't serious about what they did and
> were undisciplined, had crappy equipment and sat around playing cards
> most of the time, which was hard to take for a real go-getter like my
> dad. 

Apple fell far from the tree, eh?

- Kevin