I was informed that Oswald was very competent, but a little bit nuts on foreign affairs.
Mr. Ely. Who told you this?
Mr. Donovan. Bill Trail—William Kenneth Trail is his name—had served with him in Japan, and was around when Oswald underwent some court-martial proceedings, but I don't recall what they were. I don't know if my memory has been refreshed by the newspaper or if I actually knew then. I don't believe I recall. At any rate, Oswald served on my crew there, served on a lot of crews, but basically mine.
Mr. Ely. Let me interrupt a moment to define a little more closely the relationship between you and Oswald.
Would it be a fair characterization to say that you were his commanding officer?
Mr. Donovan. No; that is not correct. The commanding officer was a lieutenant colonel. Oswald served on a crew, a radar crew, and on that crew I was the officer in command.
Mr. Ely. I understand. How many men were on the crew?
Mr. Donovan. I believe that there were always about three officers and about seven enlisted men. It varied from time to time. We were supposed to have 12 enlisted men, but we were seldom up to strength.
Mr. Ely. So Oswald would have been one of the six or seven enlisted men with whom you were in closest contact?
Mr. Donovan. Correct. I served with him on a 4-hour watch once a day, usually five days a week—sometimes that was the morning watch, sometimes the afternoon, and sometimes it was a rather extensive night watch.