Oswald's USMC Training and Assignments (from my book)

Oswald’s Training and Assignments (not including the footnotes or citations from the book)

October 26, 1656 with 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, San Diego. This battalion was used almost exclusively for male recruits from west of the Mississippi River. Here, Oswald was drilled in weapons and martial arts, and educated in personal hygiene and Marine Corps history. Among other things, Oswald needed to pass minimum combat standards in swimming and marksmanship.

January 20, 1957 with “A” Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Training Regiment, Camp Pendleton.

March 18, 1957 with Marine Aviation Detachment Naval Air Technical Training Command, Jacksonville, Florida. Here he received training and instruction in basic radar theory, map reading, and air traffic control procedures. From here on, he would be dealing with confidential material.

May 4, 1957 with the 3380th Technical Training School at Keeler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi. The training school incorporated a ground support training program for the Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and also developed training methods for the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment System (SAGE), a computer network which integrated data from a series of radar stations as a means of defense from a soviet strike. Oswald himself received training in radar familiarization, operation of radar indicators, aircraft warning indicators, aircraft control and warning systems, operation of aircraft warning installations, and electronic countermeasures.  

July 9, 1957 with 4th Replacement Battalion, Marine Corps Air Station Santa Ana, California.

August 22, 1957 on board the USS Bexar bound for Yokosuka, Japan. Oswald had expressed a preference for aircraft maintenance and repair and was recommended for that duty assignment per Warren Commission Folsom Exhibit no 1 (Oswald’s USMC record).

September 12, 1957 joined Marine Air Control Squadron-1, Marine Aircraft Group-11, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet Marine Force, Atsugi, Japan. MAG-11 had actively participated in air operations during the Korean War and Atsugi was now one of two bases for the U2 program. To quote Bud Fensterwald “Lee Harvey Oswald’s movements in the Far East… dovetail[ed] with the salient points of the U2’s contribution to the [ongoing] strategic debate [on the so-called Soviet threat] in Washington.” George Michael Evica himself (being the person  Fensterwald had been addressing) added in his book, A Certain Arrogance, that Oswald was monitoring U2 flights which confirmed that the Soviets had halted their testing of ballistic missiles. Evica then went on to agree with historian, military analyst and fellow author, John Newman, that Oswald’s Soviet mission involved a plot to scuttle the Test Ban Treaty summits. This was accomplished, they claimed, by giving information to the Soviets enabling them to bring Gary Powers’ U2 flight down. In volume 3, we will be turning that idea thoroughly on its head.

October 27, 1957 Oswald was, according to records, ensconced in the hospital inside the US Naval Base at Yokosuka. According to a book called The Truth about the Army Nororito Institute by Ban Shigeo, a former technician with the Japanese Army's 9th Technical Research Institute, the Yokosuka Naval Base was home to a joint US-Japanese
clandestine unit which undertook chemical and biological attacks during the Korean War. Shigeo further claimed that bilateral cooperation on those types of weapons continued on through to at least until the late 1960s. Oswald was sent to the hospital after an alleged accident with a pistol causing a self-inflicted wound to the arm. His 19 day stay, as others have long suggested, seems excessive for a minor gunshot
wound. 

November 16, 1957 Oswald is back at Atsugi.

November 20, 1957 on maneuvers aboard the Terrell County arriving at Subic Bay in the Philippines that day.

March 7, 1958 Sails from Corregidor on the Wexford County. The photo of John Wayne with Oswald in the background was taken in Corregidor. Wayne had flown in to visit the troops on a break from filming The Barbarian and the Geisha in Japan. The maneuvers had been part of Operation Strongback, a training exercise in which the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing would provide “aircraft and air control facilities for tactical air support and air movement as directed by Commander, Amphibious Task Force (CTF 78) during the amphibious phase of the operation and as directed by Commander, Marine Expeditionary Force (CTF 71) during the ashore phase of the operation.” The operation was designed as a joint US-Philippine exercise designed to hone the abilities of US Forces to aid a “friendly nation” destroy an “aggressor invader”. The training involved employment of helicopter borne forces, testing of atomic logistics, testing capacity for “organic” communications, development and testing of intelligence and reconnaissance techniques and testing and evaluation of air defense against atomic attack. Operation Strongback may have also provided cover for CIA/US Military assistance to rebel Indonesian Army officers who had been ceding hard won ground back to the ruling government. Sukarno had invited the crisis by moves away from the West and embracing some elements of communism.

March 18, 1958 Oswald is again at Atsugi. The trip from Corregidor has taken 11 days. A look at the official history of the Wexford County only adds more fuel to the fire. It departed Pearl Harbor on January 23 for Yokosuka. However no date of arrival is given. From Yokosuka, the ship stopped at Hong Kong, Sasebo, Japan and Inchon, Korea before sailing back to San Diego on June 24. Did the ship stop at Corregidor prior to arrival at Yokosuka? Where else did it stop to account for those 11
days?

April 11, 1958 Oswald is court-martialed for the possession of the pistol which had caused the self-inflicted wound of October 27 the previous year.

June 27, 1958 Oswald is again court-martialed – this time over an alleged minor altercation with a sergeant and is given time in the brig. The brig time, as with the previous hospitalization has long been suspected of being a cover story while Oswald was receiving specialized training. It is an intriguing possibility.

September 16, 1958 set sail with the USS Skagit for the South China Sea carrying a cargo of steel matting for airlifts and 5” shells for the Chinese Nationalists defending the islands of Quemoy and Matsu just off the coast of the Chinese mainland. En route the ship navigated the washtub seas produced by Typhoon Helen.

September 19, 1958 arrives at Kaohsiung, Taiwan here the men spent two days straight unloading the matting into soggy rice fields. The ammunition meanwhile was loaded onto amphibious craft and sent direct to Quemoy. The Skagit was not supposed to carry ammunition at all, and nor were the men qualified to handle it, but the situation in the South China Sea was seen as a possible flash-point for WWIII, and the men believed it was no time to quibble. Worse than the Marines loading the ammunition, “Coolies” were hired to help at the rate of a box of C-rations per day. This was the US imperialism which Oswald would later cite in justifying his attempt to renounce citizenship. Another potential trouble spot in the region was the Spratly Islands – a string of atolls close to huge underwater reserves of untapped oil. The islands, by treaty signed in 1951, were not ceded to any country and could not, according to international law and UN Charter, be taken by force by any nation. In May, 1956, the islands were simply claimed by an expedition led by a wealthy Filipino lawyer and businessman named Tomás Cloma. He promptly named the islands Freedomland and declared the collective land mass an independent nation state. By July, Cloma had formed a government and created a constitution. Red China, Nationalist China, Vietnam and France all had claims to the islands.

September 24, 1958 the Skagit docks in Hong Kong where they make preparations for the possible evacuation of all US citizens in the event of war breaking out. The poverty they witness is substantial, as are the numbers of refugees fleeing China. Oswald breathed it all in and didn’t exhale until Moscow.

October 5, 1958, The Skagit is back in Subic Bay. Oswald however, has been sent back to the Atsugi base by unknown means following an incident during guard duty. He is now with sub-unit 1, H&MS-11, MAG-11, Fleet Aircraft Wing.

October 6, 1958 Oswald is hospitalized with non-venereal acute urethritis and is out again October 13. He had been treated for it prior to departing on the Skagit and had ongoing treatment aboard ship. 

November 2, 1958 Oswald departs Yokosuka aboard the Transport USNS Barrett, arriving in San Francisco on November 15.

November 16, 1958 with Casual Company, Department of the Pacific, Marine Barracks, Naval Station, Treasure Island while awaiting leave and reassignment processing.

November 19, 1958 commences 30 days leave and travels to Texas to visit his mother and brother.

December 22, 1958 Oswald is stationed at Santa Ana with MACS-9.

Could Oswald be treated on the Skagit? YES
There was zero need for Oswald not to get on board the Skagit - a former crew member and webmaster of an internet site dedicated to this ship, informed me on inquiry that "Skagit had a fully equipped and staffed sick bay. Treatment for NSU (Non-specific urethritis) and the Clap ( Gonorrhea) only required Penicillin and restriction to the ship (no liberty)."
16.10.2019

Date of Departure of the Skagit
th]Duration[/th][th]Peak intensity[/th]

Category 5 super typhoon (SSHWS)

September 9 – September 20

280 km/h (175 mph) (1-min)  920 hPa (mbar)

Typhoon Helen, which formed on September 9, rapidly intensified to a 175-mile-per-hour (282 km/h) super typhoon on the 14th. It moved to the northeast, and steadily weakened until hitting southeastern Japan as a 105-mile-per-hour (169 km/h) typhoon on the 17th. It paralleled the Japanese coastline, and after turning northward it became extratropical on the 19th in the Sea of Okhotsk.^[4] Helen's effects caused 24 fatalities (with 44 missing) and 108 injuries.^[5]
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The above shows clearly that Helen became a SUPER TYPHOON on SEPT 14. 

It would have been mass suicide to sail on that date. It weakened on the following days - which means that the HSCA was correct when it cited DOD records showing the Skagit departing on the 16th - not the 14th






On September 14, the unit diary listed the men who were to travel on the Skagit. But that doesn't mean it was the date it did set sail. As shown, the HSCA record does say they got the 9/16 date from MAGS 11 records, even though they had access to the diaries. This suggests there was other, better evidence and all indications are that the Skagit was due to sail on the 14th but because of the Typhoon, did not leave until the 16th.

So...

14/9 Unit diaries record the men to sail on the Skagit.

16/9 Oswald receives treatment for urethral discharge and is cleared to return to normal duties. In this instance, that was on the Skagit which set sail that day, perhaps delayed a day or two by the presence in the area of Typhoon Helen.  Oswald continues being tested and treated on board by the fully-equipped medical team.

19/9  Skagit arrives at Kaohsiung, Taiwan here the men spent two days straight unloading the matting into soggy rice fields. The ammunition meanwhile was loaded onto amphibious craft and sent direct to Quemoy. 

At some point after this, Oswald is returned to Atsugi with sub-unit 1, H&MS-11, MAG-11, Fleet Aircraft Wing which is what the HSCA wrongly believed he had been attached to since the departure of the Skagit.

Oct 6  Oswald is hospitalized with non-venereal acute urethritis and is out again October 13. During the Oct 6 consultation, it is noted Oswald had been doing heavy lifting. This was no doubt at Kaohsiung as noted above. His duties at Atsugi included n such heavy lifting. 

Oswald was treated on the day of the Skagit's departure and cleared to travel. His condition however, deteriorated after the heavy work undertaken in Kaohsiung and he was returned to Atsugi for treatment at the hospital.

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I am more than happy for this to be compared to the "Harvey and Lee" version based on the usual misrepresentations and misreadings of records.

I cannot believe there are people still confused about this.

This is vastly simpler than the school days stuff.

Terry W. Martin wrote:I cannot believe there are people still confused about this.

This is vastly simpler than the school days stuff.

I think still "confused" might be more accurate.

Great research,Greg. Thanks for the sneak preview.

Oswald - USMC Records.

With thanks to Malcolm Blunt.