Trucker Sworn Into Guard More Quickly Than Quayle

An Indiana National Guard official said Wednesday that it took less time for an unemployed truck driver to be sworn into the Guard than it did Republican vice presidential nominee Dan Quayle, whose campaign has been surrounded by questions about whether he used family influence to secure a spot with the Guard and avoid the Vietnam War.

It took retired Sgt. Stephen W. Morell three days to complete processing and Quayle, the Indiana senator chosen by George Bush as a running mate, 11 days, Guard records show.

Morell, who says he dropped out of college and walked into a recruitment office, was offered a clerk-typist’s position three days after undergoing preliminary testing on May 19, 1969. Morell served side-by-side with Quayle, who records show was placed in the unit 11 days after he was tested May 8, 1969.

Same Experience as Quayle

“We entered the Guard the same rank and left the Guard the same rank. And I was a nobody,” Morell told the Associated Press.

“If his family really had all this influence like everyone says, he would have been sent directly to officer’s candidate school and come out a lieutenant or captain,” Morell said of Quayle, whose maternal grandfather, Eugene C. Pulliam, published several newspapers, including Indiana’s largest.

Quayle has acknowledged that in his effort to get into the Guard, he asked the help of Wendell Philippi, a retired National Guard general who at the time was managing editor of a paper in Indianapolis owned by the Pulliam family. But Quayle has insisted that no strings were pulled in his behalf.

Morell said he was forced to drop out of college at Indiana University for financial reasons and began considering the National Guard.

Sees ‘No In-Between’

“If you weren’t a full-time student, you were full-time draft. There was no in-between,” he said.

“I figured I might as well stay at home, do my weekend a month and get married,” Morell said.

Capt. Cathi Kiger, a spokeswoman for the Guard, said the time it takes for recruits to pass through the pre-induction aptitude interviews and examinations often depends on the schedule of the applicant.

“Enlisting can take anywhere from a week to a year,” she said.

Kiger said the service was below its authorized strength when Quayle, then 22, signed up.

“I can find no evidence that (Quayle) was given special consideration, and there was no need,” Kiger said.