No DD-214, no job.

For about a year I had a day job writing training materials for King of Prussia, Pa.-based Allied Security (now Allied-Barton).

I don't breathe well in cubicles and I eventually fled that job, but I liked the company. One of their organizing principles is the idea that high turnover increases costs and decreases quality in the private security industry. The company thus tries to retain and reward good employees by paying a living wage (substantially above the industry average) and offering decent benefits to all full-time workers. I liked that about them.

Anyway, part of my job was training the company's site managers in "recruiting and retention." This is where I learned about the all-important DD-214.

Many of the very best people in private security have prior experience in law enforcement or the military. Some of the very worst people do too -- but in their case that service usually ended badly. You want to hire as many of the former as possible while avoiding the latter at all costs. That's where the DD-214 comes in.

This form, the "report of separation," tells you why and under what conditions a person has left the military. Produce a DD-214 that shows you met your military obligations honorably and you're on the company fast track. Produce one that says otherwise -- or fail to produce one at all -- and your job interview is over.

I am not interested in the typographical capabilities of the IBM Executive Model D typewriter. Nor am I interested in the latest round of questions about gaps in President Bush's record of service in the Texas Air National Guard. Why bother with the "latest round" of questions when the first round of questions remains unanswered?

I want to see the man's DD-214.

Right now, of course, George W. Bush is not applying to work as a security officer at the mall. That's good news for him, since without producing a DD-214 he cannot get the job. Instead he is applying for a second term in office as the president of the United States. Lucky for him, the electorate -- and the press corps -- are not as demanding as the recruiters for the private security industry.

(P.S. If you've never seen a form DD-214, there's a .pdf file of one here. It notes that Lt. John F. Kerry served honorably.)

Comments

[Evan]

I've heard it asserted elsewhere that national guard people don't get a DD-214--Bush's official separation paper was the ANG22, which he did release. True or false? Dammifiknow.

[J Mann]

For what it's worth, Phil Carter concluded that TANG service men and women of the era probably didn't get DD-214s, and that Bush's discharge record is his NGB 22 form.

[lightning]

Re the ANG22 (or is it NGB22?) -- Why would they block out the height, weight, marital status, number of dependants? I can't imagine why this would be considered sensitive information.

[cjmr]

lightning-

Personally, I'd prefer that the general public not know my height, weight or number of dependants. It isn't any of their business. Then again, I'm not running for political office...

[Beth]

I don't know much about this stuff, so I went to the ARPC (Air Reserve Personnel Center) website to check it out.

I found that it's true that the DD-214 was not issued to everyone in the national guard. According to the ARPC, "A DD Form 214, Report of Separation from Active Duty is only issued for AD time in excess of 90 days."

Problem is, Bush did have AD time in the reserves well in excess of 90 days (according to the White House, 607 days, to be exact). So the question remains: where is Bush's DD-214?

[Sigivald]

Beth... as suggested by others, you might wish to consider that Bush got out over 20 years ago, and what the ARPC says about current paperwork did not necessarily apply then.

You might wish to know that from outside, this post and some of the comments look, more than anything else, like desperation.

Do you seriously think that if there was the slightest reason to believe Bush had not gotten out with an Honorable that it wouldn't have been trumpeted as Proof He's Worse Than Hitler, back in 2000?

That ANG22 form looks pretty clear-cut to me, after all. "Discharge Type _Honorable_", and all.

[Jesurgislac]

Sigivald asserted: Do you seriously think that if there was the slightest reason to believe Bush had not gotten out with an Honorable that it wouldn't have been trumpeted as Proof He's Worse Than Hitler, back in 2000?

No. Because there was considerable reason to believe that Bush went AWOL from the NG even in 2000, and, as you recall, the trumpeting just didn't happen: the media evidently believed that even though 30 years earlier Bush had welshed on his responsibilities and then lied about it, this wouldn't show what he would be like as a President 2000-2004.

Sadly, they were wrong: that is what Bush is like as a President. Does the bare minimum he can get away with, when he doesn't get away with it he goes on vacation, and expects his dad's friends to pull strings and cover-up for him. Meantime, he lies.

what the ARPC says about current paperwork did not necessarily apply then.

The page I quoted isn't specifically about current paperwork. In fact, the very next section talks about certificates for people who retired before July 1978.

I'm truly amazed by your level of rudeness, and that of other conservative blog-types in the past week. I suspect that it has to do with the memos released by CBS, but I can't figure out whether you guys are so drunk on your own illusory power that you can get away with anything, or you're so existentially threatened by their content that you've fallen back on your natural weapons of intimidation or cruelty. Or maybe you're so frightened that the public may deny your Boy Emperor another 4 years, you'll stoop to anything to prevent it.

And, BTW, if anything was going to be "trumpeted as Proof He's Worse Than Hitler," it would be the 1000 Americans he sent to die in the war that never should have been, not this early evidence of his lack of character.

[Rick Vietnam Vet]

Problem is, Bush did have AD time in the reserves well in excess of 90 days (according to the White House, 607 days, to be exact). So the question remains: where is Bush's DD-214?

Posted by: Beth | September 15, 2004 12:26 PM

Beth, those 607 days you refer to were for initial training time; upon first taking the oath and attending/completing his basic and technical training assignments. It's the full time duty that is performed that comes after the completion of all training. Kerry was Naval Reserves, and did his REGULAR (full time) duties when he went to 'Nam. This is why Kerry got a 214, and Bush only recieved the ANG22.

[nitpicker]

"And, BTW, if anything was going to be "trumpeted as Proof He's Worse Than Hitler," it would be the 1000 Americans he sent to die in the war that never should have been, not this early evidence of his lack of character."

that makes him sound more like the Kaiser during WW1.

now the illegal internment and torture of innocents in new york, gitmo, Afganistan and Iraq, along with the massive death toll of countless Iraqi civilians are much better proof of hitler-ness on bush's part (not to mention the worrying trend towards revoking any concept of freedom or democracy in the wake of 9/11 ala post reichstag fire Germany).

the post you were replying to also seemed to ignore the negative media blitzkreig Gore suffered and bush didn't. If Bush had been declared anything negative, no one would have cared or heard about it

The Democrats during the last two election haven't yet needed to resort to any serious below the belt accusation of nazidom, where as the republicans on the other hand...

[Mark Sman]

John Kerry's 214 from his website does not list his discharge status, because he was not discharged when that 214 was made. He was a member of the reserves at that time. The only way to get his up to date 214 will be if he files a form 180 record request.

Many people have pointed out that the 214 on the site doesn't have a filled in 13b area. This is not uncommon. Many service vets have 214s that read like that. This is why Kerry has a a seperate Honorable Discharge from the Naval Reserves. Why it is dated 1978 I have no idea.

If you want to get a copy of your full 214 for family records file form 180 and get DD214 memberhip B after all of your reserve and other contractual obligiations are over. Its a good thing to pass on to the family records.

By the by, I couldn't give a darn what either of these guys full military record shows. They both have records from the last 10, 20, 30 years that I do care about.