Colonel FOLSOM. To confinement. In this instance, serving sentence
summary court-martial.
Mr. ELY. Moving now to the next column, labeled "Primary Duty," one
abbreviation which recurs is "DUINS." Could you tell us what that means?
Colonel FOLSOM. Duty under instruction.
Mr. ELY. And the entry of 12 September 1957 has an abbreviation which
I believe refers to the sort of job which Oswald was performing. Could
you tell us what that stands for?
Colonel FOLSOM. In this case he was a replacement trainee.
Mr. ELY. Well, that is the entry for 9 July 1957. That stands for
replacement trainee. Could you tell us what the entry for 12 September
1957 is?
Colonel FOLSOM. It indicates that he joined Marine Air Control
Squadron, No. 1, Marine Air Group 11, First Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet
Marine Force, care of "FPO" San Francisco. This is a mailing address
for an organization in the First Wing which at that time was in Japan.
Mr. ELY. And what was the job that he performed?
Colonel FOLSOM. He was an aviation electronics operator.
Mr. ELY. All right. I think that with the help you have given us,
anybody looking over this record which appears at page 3 and 4 of the
Folsom Deposition Exhibit No. 1 could readily understand the progress
of Oswald's service.
Turning now to page 5 of the exhibit, I notice that before Oswald
was awarded his final MOS, he was awarded an MOS, that is a Military
Occupational Specialty, of 6400. Do you know, Colonel, what that stands
for?
Colonel FOLSOM. It is a basic MOS in aviation electronics, I believe.
Mr. ELY. Now, we have an entry at the bottom of page 5 of this exhibit
which was later crossed out. Could you explain to us the meaning of
that entry?
Colonel FOLSOM. Yes. This is an entry that is additional information as
to promotion status on transfer to a new organization. This entry shows
that Oswald achieved a composite score for the second 1958 testing
period of 113. The reason it was deleted was due to his reduction from
the rank of private first class to private pursuant to sentence of a
summary court-martial.
Mr. ELY. Is there any way of evaluating his score of 113?
Colonel FOLSOM. It would be very difficult to reconstruct it. It is a
composition of conduct and proficiency markings, time in service, and
time in grade. And promotions are based on cutting scores established
by Headquarters Marine Corps, which are promulgated to the field, and
individuals holding the cutting score or higher may be promoted by
their local organizations.
Mr. ELY. But the cutting score which is promulgated varies from time to
time?
Colonel FOLSOM. It fluctuates. Well, it does not fluctuate--it is
controlled by a staff agency at Headquarters, Marine Corps, to fulfill
the needs of the Marine Corps by--in the varying grades.
Mr. ELY. Turning our attention now to page 6 of the exhibit, I notice
here in the section labeled "Allotments" that toward the end of
Oswald's Marine Corps career his mother received two allotments. These
two allotments are designated differently in terms of purpose--one
being given a "Q" designation and the other being given a "D"
designation.
Can you explain what the difference is?
Colonel FOLSOM. The "Q" allotment is one where a portion of it is
provided by the Government, and the other portion by the individual. It
is a dependency allotment.
The "D" allotment, I believe, is an additional voluntary contribution.
Mr. ELY. The "D" allotment is one that the individual marine decides to
send out of his pay?
Colonel FOLSOM. That is correct.
Mr. ELY. Immediately below the allotment section is the record of
Oswald's firing of various weapons. We would like you to explain some
of the abbreviations found in this record.
Under the column "Course" we see that at one point he fired the M-1
Rifle on a so-called "A" course, and, too, he fired it on a "B" course.
Could you tell us what the difference is between those two courses?
Colonel FOLSOM. Yes; the "A" course is the standard marksmanship
qualification course used by the Marine Corps for the M-1 Rifle. The
"B" course is a shorter course--by that, less rounds of ammunition are
fired.
Mr. ELY. But both of these courses are such that one can record a score?
Colonel FOLSOM. Yes; there are scores and adjective designations as a
result of the scores.
In the case of the "A" course, Oswald obtained a score of 212 which
would, under regulations in effect at that time, have made him a
sharpshooter. However, the score of 212 was erroneously designated with
the abbreviation "MM" for marksman.
When he fired the "B" course, he is rated "MM" or marksman, and this is
a correct designation in accordance with the score fired.
Mr. ELY. Am I correct in stating that when he fired the "A" course he
would have been still in basic training at San Diego?
Colonel FOLSOM. Yes.
Mr. ELY. This was on the 21st of December 1958. Did you mention what
the minimum score for sharpshooter would have been at that point?
Colonel FOLSOM. It would have been 210.
Mr. ELY. In other words, he was two points over the minimum for
sharpshooter and the designation "MM" on his record was an error?
Colonel FOLSOM. That is correct.
Mr. ELY. Am I correct in stating that the "B" course firing to which
you referred occurred on May 6, 1959, at El Toro, Calif.?
Colonel FOLSOM. This is correct.
Mr. ELY. His record also discloses that he fired a riot gun, a .45
caliber pistol, and at some times an M-1 rifle on a course designated
"FAM." That stands for familiarization?
Colonel FOLSOM. That is correct.