Here's a headline for you:
Bush Suspended From Guard Flying
Of course, we knew that already, but it makes a great soundbite.
Gearge Bush was suspended from flight status for missing his flight physical. He missed his flight physical because he was headed for a non-flight billet.
The only really new information is this section:
"Staudt has obviously pressured Hodges more about Bush," Killian wrote on Aug. 18, 1973. "I'm having trouble running interference and doing my job — Harris gave me a message today from Grp regarding Bush's OETR and Staudt is pushing to sugar coat it. Bush wasn't here during rating period and I don't have any comments from 187th in Alabama. I will not rate." Grp refers to a military unit and OETR stands for officer efficiency training report.The memo concludes: "Harris took the call from Grp today. I'll backdate but won't rate. Harris agrees."
First, the pressure Killian notes is not to create a good evaluation for then Lt Bush, but to rate him at all. It is quite clear from the memo that Killian is not considering giving Bush a bad rating, and resists the idea of rating him at all, since he wasn't there, and he got o word from the Alabama post. This is an entirely reasonable position for the Lt Col to take. Lt Bush wasn't assigned to him, and he received no reports from his command.
While the AP is presenting this as particularly damning, once you know a little bit more about the rating system, you realize it isn't. A rating period of "not observed" represents an anomaly in a service jacket. Anomalies like that make it harder to advance in rank when you're up against other officers without such anomalies.
However, what this record does show is that Bush or his family did apply political pressure on the Guard, making it more likely that, despite his denials, strings were pulled to get him into the Guard.