I did not see the acronym "AWOL," or the words "Away Without Leave" on any of the damning articles. AWOL means "gone." It means a person is "missing without cause." Poor attendance may result in discharge (doubtful in the 70s-80s crowd), but it is hardly a criminal act. His units knew where he was.

I even see one of the damning articles (the one stating he had not been seen) clearly stating the officer in question, Lt. Bush, had an occupation that required him to move:

"He cleared this base on 15 May 1972 and has been performing equivalent training in a non flying status with the 187 Tac Recon Gp, Dannelly ANG Base, Alabama."

What that is saying is that a form showed up at his old unit, probably a rating form, and was redirected to his new assignment. Bush had cleared the base, meaning he had properly checked out of every office at his old unit. This, too, is not a crime.

And “equivalent training” could be anything from packing warheads to sorting linen.

Hell, Bowser knows all this, but he can't agree, because then his raging nemesis would lose a black mark.

Cheers,
Dan