Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Dependency Discharge and Release from Active Duty

Oswald was obligated to serve on active duty until December 7, 1959 (adjusted to compensate for his confinement). On August 17, he submitted a request for a dependency discharge, asserting that his mother needed his support. The request included affidavits from his mother, an attorney, a doctor, and two friends, attesting that she had been injured at work in December 1958 and could not support herself. Oswald had previously made a voluntary allotment of part of his salary to his mother ($40 in August) and submitted a “Q” allotment application for $91.30, with one payment made in September. On August 28, the Wing Hardship or Dependency Discharge Board recommended approval, and on September 4, he was transferred from MACS-9 to the H. & H. Squadron. On September 11, he was released from active duty and transferred to the Marine Corps Reserve, in which he was expected to serve until December 8, 1962, with assignment to the Marine Air Reserve Training Command at the Naval Air Station in Glenview, Illinois.

Transfer to Marine Corps Reserve

Oswald was released from active duty on September 11 and transferred to the Marine Corps Reserve, in which he was expected to serve until December 8, 1962. He was assigned to the Marine Air Reserve Training Command at the Naval Air Station in Glenview, Illinois.

Undesirable Discharge from Marine Corps Reserve

Almost exactly one year later, on September 13, 1960, Oswald was given an “undesirable discharge” from the Marine Corps Reserve, based on reliable information that he had renounced his U.S. citizenship with the intention of becoming a permanent citizen of the Soviet Union, and that he had brought discredit to the Marine Corps through adverse newspaper publicity generated by this action, proving himself unfit for retention in the naval service.