ONI recruitment

Marguerite had handed the commissioners a key to understanding the path her son had taken, but as already suggested, she would prove abysmal during future appearances, at laying out the details. This was possibly due in part to withholding self-implicating information, given the past roles played by her third husband, Edwin Ekdahl and eldest son, John Pic in the real Lee Harvey Oswald story. This failure made it easy to marginalize her testimony and to paint her in the most unflattering light.
Margurerite’s major contention has some support from a surprising source. Donald Monier was with Military Intelligence and was interviewed by the Assassinations Record Review Board on August 12, 1996. Monier covered topics such as the activities of the 112th Military Intelligence Detachment, Military Science and the art of deception, espionage at home and in the Soviet Union, and Civil Rights. Monier also stated that he recalled Navy Code 30 operations relating to a “fake’ defector program run by ONI. [1]

Unfortunately we are left with two alternatives here. “Code 30” is the Navy operations department dealing with programs for the recruitment of enlisted, officer and reserve candidates. But there is also a Code 30 Department within the Office of Naval Research (ONR). It is unclear at the time of writing if ONR Code 30 existed in 1959, and if it did, whether its role was the same then as it is now and which incorporates Human Performance Training and Education, as well as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, among other streams. It should be added here that Robert Webster, who defected to the Soviet Union shortly before Oswald’s arrival in Moscow, was employed by Rand Corp, and that Rand Corp had a close working relationship with ONR.

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[1] NARA Record No 10772 – Sound Recording of Monier (misspelled as “Moneir” by NARA) interview conducted ARRB 8/12/96

greg_parker wrote:From pp 165-66 Lee Harvey Oswald's Cold War vols 1 and 2

Marguerite had handed the commissioners a key to understanding the path her son had taken, but as already suggested, she would prove abysmal during future appearances, at laying out the details. This was possibly due in part to withholding self-implicating information, given the past roles played by her third husband, Edwin Ekdahl and eldest son, John Pic in the real Lee Harvey Oswald story. This failure made it easy to marginalize her testimony and to paint her in the most unflattering light.
Margurerite’s major contention has some support from a surprising source. Donald Monier was with Military Intelligence and was interviewed by the Assassinations Record Review Board on August 12, 1996. Monier covered topics such as the activities of the 112th Military Intelligence Detachment, Military Science and the art of deception, espionage at home and in the Soviet Union, and Civil Rights. Monier also stated that he recalled Navy Code 30 operations relating to a “fake’ defector program run by ONI. [1]

Unfortunately we are left with two alternatives here. “Code 30” is the Navy operations department dealing with programs for the recruitment of enlisted, officer and reserve candidates. But there is also a Code 30 Department within the Office of Naval Research (ONR). It is unclear at the time of writing if ONR Code 30 existed in 1959, and if it did, whether its role was the same then as it is now and which incorporates Human Performance Training and Education, as well as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, among other streams. It should be added here that Robert Webster, who defected to the Soviet Union shortly before Oswald’s arrival in Moscow, was employed by Rand Corp, and that Rand Corp had a close working relationship with ONR.

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[1] NARA Record No 10772 – Sound Recording of Monier (misspelled as “Moneir” by NARA) interview conducted ARRB 8/12/96

The following is an email I wrote to ONR a couple of years ago. They replied that I should direct my inquiry to the Public Affairs Office of ONI - which I did, but never got a reply.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I was wondering what light you may be able to shed upon this information from a person simply described as being Military Intelligence to the effect that... there was a Naval Code 30 operation in effect during the height of the Cold War which was a "fake" defector program and run by ONI.

You may be aware that similar claims have been made in the past, most notably by Victor Marchetti. I have been skeptical of those claims. 

This claim however was made to the Assassination Record Review Board in 1996 by a person listed as "Donald Moneir", though I believe the correct spelling is "Monier". Until I can hear the interview it is difficult to assess. On face value, the claim looks to lack any sort of hidden motive or agenda. 

I do intend mentioning this information in a manuscript I am working on.

Here is the NARA Audio-Visual listing which may help:
http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?mode=searchResult&absPageId=70399
  
With thanks in advance,


GR Parker