The Nation - News from Aug. 17, 1987

The Air Force National Guard has been tolerating chronic absenteeism in its ranks, failing to dismiss 85% of members found in a survey to have repeatedly missed training sessions, an internal report has found. Guard members who are chronically absent from training sessions and annual active duty periods are supposed to be transferred to the Individual Ready Reserves, volunteers who do not train and receive neither pay nor retirement benefits. Instead, Air Force auditors examining a sample of unit commanders in seven states, including California, found that they allowed 46 of 54 delinquent members who should have been dropped to continue in the Guard in fiscal years 1984 and 1985.