Quayle.

This is coolbert:

I do recall that during the Presidential campaigns of 1988 and 1992 the subject of Dan Quayle's military service did become an issue.

It seems that Quayle did "escape" the draft by enlisting in the INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD [INARNG], supposedly getting preferential treatment on the "waiting list".

Dan was trained and served as a MP during his guardsman days.

There was even controversy about this too, as I recall. Something about his serving as a journalist rather than a MP or something like that.

The whole issue seems dubious to me. I just don't see what the big fuss is.

If the guy went on active duty, trained as a MP, and then returned to his guard unit to serve out the rest of his six year enlistment, so what. Is this not honorable??

This aspersion on the military service of guardsmen such as Quayle casts all other guardsmen of the era [Vietnam Era] in a bad light. To say that guard service was not honorable is not to give those who served a fair shake.

And National Guard troops were called to active service during the Vietnam War, and did deploy to Vietnam.

This did occur for one infantry company of the INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD, the same guard that Quayle was member of.

There was a need, drastically so, for long-range-reconnaissance patrol [LRRP] units in Vietnam. To fill this need, on one occasion that I know of, an entire infantry company of the INARNG was called to active duty, sent to FT. Benning, trained as a LRRP company, and sent to Vietnam, where they served for the normal one year tour, IN THE CAPACITY OF LRRP TROOPS!

So it was possible that National Guard troops could have ended up in Vietnam during that conflict. Enlisting in the guard was not shirking your duty or being a "draft dodger", or anything like that!!

coolbert.