Following is a new article co-written by Greg R. Parker and Jim Purtell. Greg is the author of Lee Harvey Oswald’s Cold War; he is the founder and editor of https://reopenkennedycase.forumotion.net/
LEE OSWALD & THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE
by Greg R. Parker & Jim Purtell
Past speculation and claims
One of the many enduring mysteries surrounding Lee Oswald is where and how he learned to speak Russian.
It is often cited that the Warren Commission wondered out loud (though behind locked doors) if Oswald had attended the Defense Language Institute at Monterey after returning from a tour of duty in South East Asia with the Marines. Rumors had circulated to that effect. However, the commissioner’s own musings on the subject were not even in regard to Russian, but Spanish (Warren Commission Executive Session of 27 Jan 1964). In any case, there has never been any foundation for such rumors, except his proficiency itself.
According to the Warren Commission testimony of Patricia Johnson McMillan, Oswald had told her he learned from a Berlitz Russian language book.
McMillan had written a story on his defection in 1959, allegedly based on notes from personal interviews with Oswald. In 1964, she wrote another story giving additional details.
However, she admitted to the Warren Commission that she had not included the Berlitz information in her contemporaneous notes (and it was not mentioned either, in her 1959 story). McMillan was always eager to please the authorities when it came to Oswald and this seems to be another case in point. There are no other sources for Oswald telling anyone this and no sources for any of his Marine buddies seeing him with such a book
But then in 1994, a funny thing happened. A person claiming to be an ex-Marine stationed at El Toro in 1964, sold a library index card at auction showing a person named “Oswald” (no first name given) borrowed a book titled “The Berlitz Self-Teacher: Russian”. According to the provenance provided by the seller, he worked in the base library and obtained the card while there. It sold for $12,500.00 - the type of money that makes fraud in the memorabilia industry so rife. Even if true, borrowing a library book for a few weeks is hardly going to gain you much proficiency in Russian. It must be remembered too, that Oswald had a date with an aunt of a fellow Marine while stationed at that base. Her name was Rosaleen Quinn and she had completed a Berlitz Russian language course. Ms. Quinn was interviewed by the FBI on December 13, 1963 (Commission Document 187, p8). If Oswald had taught himself via a Berlitz self-teacher book, Ms. Quinn would have been the one person he would have mentioned this to, as the subject of how each of them had learned the language would have been brought up in relation, and Berlitz would have been the common denominator.
Note that Ms. Quinn learned Russian for entry into the Foreign Service, and that she seems to have flown to California from New York for the sole purpose of dating Oswald and his commanding officer, John Donovan. Donovan too, was headed for a career in the Foreign Service. The whole episode seems like a test of Oswald by Ms. Quinn followed by her debriefing with Donovan who had been an employee of the FBI before joining the Marines.
Finally, there is the claim that the CIA took a 12 years old Hungarian refugee and gradually merged his life and his records with those of the historical Lee Oswald with the aim of eventually sending him to Russia as a spy. The idea behind this was to have a native speaker who could pretend a lack of ability in Russian in order to obtain information from those speaking to or near him.
The CIA did have a program of infiltrating emigres behind the Iron Curtain. But they were sent there to blend in as a “local” while gathering information and forming cells. They also had a program of sending over US citizens under cover as businessmen, students, teachers, tourists, etc. to gather information legally. It makes no sense at all for the CIA to send a Hungarian refugee (who allegedly learned flawless Russian and English prior to coming to America) to defect to the Soviet Union as a disaffected Marine from the Deep South.
Innate ability
Most who study this case have trouble understanding how a high school dropout could learn a difficult language like Russian. This is the space where the speculation about the Defense Language Institute finds a home.
What is rarely considered is the possibility of Oswald having had an innate ability - a “gift” for learning languages, despite his own problems with writing in English. In fact, those seemingly opposing traits could spring from the same well.
In 1953, Oswald was diagnosed with a schizoid personality disorder while being assessed at Youth House. This disorder has nothing to do with schizophrenia, but is one characterized by a lack of interest in social relationships, a tendency toward a solitary or sheltered lifestyle, secretiveness, emotional coldness, detachment, and apathy. Asperger’s Syndrome was not recognized in the US at that time, and indeed, is now said to be a part of the Autism Spectrum. Certain types of personality disorders can look very much like a spectrum disorder and there is no doubt that had Oswald been a 13-year-old in more modern times, he would have been assessed for Asperger’s.
Although one should not generalize regarding common traits of those on the Spectrum any more than you should in any other demographic, it is well-known some do learn foreign languages easily. According to renowned expert, Tony Attwood,
“sometimes the person with Asperger’s syndrome can have a natural talent and a special interest in foreign languages. The person can acquire the ability to speak many languages without the pronunciation errors expected when a typical person from a specific home country learns that language.” (The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome - Page 225 Tony Attwood - 2007)
There is evidence that apart from Russian, Oswald was also learning Spanish and German.
Regarding writing skills, it is noted that
...children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder integrated in regular schools find it difficult to perform writing tasks. This can impair their academic achievements, social availability, and self-confidence, say experts...the handwriting performances of the two groups showed statistically significant differences. The children with high-functioning autism produced taller and broader letters; waiting times on paper and in the air were longer; and the degree of slant of the pen was smaller. (Science Daily, June 1, 2016)
Dr Hans Asperger, after whom the syndrome was named, noted time and again, the issue of messy writing and spelling errors among the children he studied; this, despite the fact that he called the children his “Little Professors” due to their specialized and highly tuned abilities in disparate areas. For example, of a child named Harro, Asperger noted,
He carried on writing carelessly, and messily, crossing out words, lines going up and down, the slant changing. His spelling, however, was reasonably accurate. As long as his attention was focused on one word, he knew how to spell it. It was very significant then that he made more spelling errors when copying that at dictation. Really, one would expect that copying should not present any problems at all since the words were in front of him; but this very simple and straightforward task simply did not interest him”.
The above description of Harro’s writing style could just as easily have been describing the manner in which Oswald wrote.
Now skip forward to Oswald’s career in the Marines with radar which required the ability to “mirror write”. From the Mentalthlete Blogspot:
Much like a muscle, the brain needs to be used and exposed to exercises that help build it up and stay healthy and functional. And mirror-writing is a great exercise to use. You see, mirror-writing tends to correlate with having a thicker corpus callosum, and that is the part of the brain that enables the right and left hemisphere to communicate with each other. Furthermore, there is some evidence that mirror-writers have bilateral language centers. With the brain, two isn't always better than one, but in the case of language centers it is. Second-language acquisition comes easier to those with two active language centers, and word play probably does as well.
There can be little doubt that Oswald had an innate ability to learn other languages.
Russian Language Tests
There are two tests you can take in the US military regarding foreign languages. The first is the Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB). This test is typically given to new recruits, and prospective recruits from for example ROTC and the Civil Air Patrol. The purpose of the test is not to assess fluency in a second language but to test, as the name suggests, an aptitude for learning one. If you do well in this test, you may study a language and then undertake the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) and depending on your score, you may qualify for a monthly allowance. This test can also be requested if you already have a second language ability. These tests are meant to measure how well a person can function in real-life situations in a foreign language according to well-defined linguistic tasks and assessment criteria. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Language_Proficiency_Tests), This was the very test that Oswald took on February 25, 1959 - about a month before applying to attend the Albert Schweitzer College in Switzerland. Oswald stated on the application form that he spoke Russian with fluency equal to one year of college. Note that this is not the same as stating he actually had one year of study.
Colonel Folsom was called before the Warren Commission to explain Oswald’s military records. Following is the Q & A from that part of his testimony dealing with the Russian test Oswald had undertaken:
Mr. ELY - All right. Now, moving further down page 7, we have the record of a Russian examination taken by Oswald on February 25, 1959. Could you explain to us what sort of test this was, and what the scores achieved by Oswald mean?
Colonel FOLSOM - The test form was Department of the Army, Adjutant General's Office, PRT-157. This is merely the test series designation. Now, under "understands" the scoring was minus 5, which means that he got five more wrong than right. The "P" in parentheses indicates "poor." Under reading he achieved a score of 4, which is low. This, again, is shown by the "P" in parentheses for "poor."
Mr. ELY - This 4 means he got four more questions right than wrong?
Colonel FOLSOM - This is correct. And under "writes" he achieved a score of 3, with "P" in parentheses, and this indicates he got three more right than he did wrong. His total score was 2, with a "P" in parentheses meaning that overall, he got two more right than wrong, and his rating was poor throughout.
To summarize, Oswald scored
-5 for “understanding” (listening)
+4 for “reading”
+3 for “writing”
Folsom stated that his rating was “P” for poor in each category. But was he really that bad?
This is one of three schedules of monthly additional pay for proficiency in a foreign language in the Marines as at 2006.
Assuming similar scores were needed in 1959 to qualify for FLPP, Oswald’s alleged rating of “poor” throughout does not seem to be justified - at least not insofar as reading and writing was concerned.
And there may well be a valid reason Oswald scored noticeably worse in “understanding” (listening) than in reading and writing. He had problems his entire life with Otitis Media with his medical records showing he had periodic hearing loss in one ear as a result. If it had been taken on reading/writing alone, Oswald would appear to have done quite well, insofar as the military was concerned.
As at 2014, the following applied:
For example, a Marine who qualifies for schedule 1 pay with a 1+/1+ score — an elementary proficiency "plus" in at least two categories — will receive $150, or $50 more than in the past. Those scores are set by the Interagency Language Roundtable scale, which measures foreign language aptitude ranging from zero, or no proficiency, to five, for native proficiency. The categories include reading, listening, speaking and writing.
Marines with scores of 1/1 in a language for schedule 2 will receive half the amount they used to receive, now taking home just $25 extra per month.
Top qualifiers on schedule 2, however, will take home more money. A Marine with a 4/4 score, for example, will now receive the maximum allowed under Corps regulations, taking home an extra $500 per month compared to $400 in years past. Marines can earn the maximum bonus for up to two languages.
The changes do not alter current eligibility requirements last revised in August 2013. Requirements were tightened then to the current standards, which require more testing. There are three Defense Language Institute tests with one for listening, reading and speaking. Marines must qualify in at least two of those areas to receive extra language pay. In the few languages where there is only a single test, Marines must also undergo an oral exam.
All of which brings us to the question of whether he had tuition at all or was completely self-taught.
Means and opportunity
The first signs of the “how” occur while Oswald was stationed at Atsugi.
Here is what Zack Stout told HSCA investigator Jack Moriarty on the subject when interviewed at his home on June 1st, 1978. The interview transcript was part of the 2018 document releases.
Zack Stout HSCA Interview, 6 June, 1978
John Armstrong, author of Harvey and Lee, interviewed Stout in 1995. In that interview, Stout was allegedly asked if Oswald spoke or studied Russian at Atsugi to which he is supposed to have replied, “that's ridiculous. No, he never spoke Russian or had a Russian book or a Russian newspaper. If he had any of those things, all of us would have known about it." As we will see, “everyone” did know about it, but this is not the first time that Stout has been (mis)used by an author for their own agenda. Much of Stout’s HSCA interview was spent correcting information in Epstein’s Legend which allegedly came from Epstein’s interview with Stout. Had Armstrong interviewed Stout prior to those House hearings, we would probably see Stout likewise using part of the HSCA interview to correct Armstrong.
Stout’s HSCA interview actually corroborates the information provided in 1963 by another Marine, Daniel Powers.
Commission Document 36, p98
Unlikely by random chance, Oswald was in possession of two Russian language books at the time of his death. Both were standard texts which had gone through many editions prior to and subsequent to Oswald’s time in Japan.
Following is a list of items Robert Oswald retrieved from the Paine residence which had not been taken by the police as evidence (courtesy Bart Kamp from the archives of Malcolm Blunt).
Both titles went through changes to the cover in various editions. However, at least one had a dark blue cover in some of those editions – just as described by Powers.
We next have to deal with Marina’s recorded interview with the Secret Service. The interview was recorded on Dec 1, 1963.
From page 8 of the transcript:
Commission Document 344, p8
Armstrong got at least this much right: Oswald pretended to have little Russian language ability when he arrived in Moscow. But not because he was hiding being a native speaker. He was hiding any sign that he had help through the military in learning the language. If he had wanted to give the impression that he had no Russian ability at all, he would not have told his interviewers in Moscow that he had been learning the language. He said this despite suspecting that the room was bugged.
Warren Commission, Vol. XI, pps 455-56, Testimony of Priscilla Mary Post Johnson, 25 July, 1964:
Mr. SLAWSON. Your article quotes Oswald as saying that he used Berlitz methods in learning the language. Does your memory have anything to add to that as to what exactly he might have meant?
Miss JOHNSON. Yes. This was another point where he struck me as really rather elusive about an innocent enough subject. I see on page 3, he said, "I started learning Russian a year ago along with my other preparations.
Well, his saying "along with my other preparations" took my interest at the time. What were they? Whether I tried to find out more about what they were and failed and therefore that is not in the notes, but he threw it out and he then didn't really deliver as far as detailing them. He said, "I was able to teach myself to read and write from Berlitz. I still have trouble speaking."
So I said, "Well, how did you teach yourself to read and write from Berlitz? Did you just get a textbook or did you go into some city nearby for lessons at a school?" And he wouldn't answer, and that struck me as one hell of a--I mean a strange thing to be elusive about. Why, learning a language is just something you can tell somebody, so I thought.
So, I said, "Practice or a teacher? Did you have a teacher, or did you just do it from practice?" And he wouldn't say. And then that got me sufficiently curious that I asked him on what money he had come to the Soviet Union. That was my next question. He did have a way of a little bit piquing your curiosity and then failing to deliver.
He liked to play cat and mouse with your curiosity.
The Soviets might accept that he could have taught himself a limited amount on his own while in the Marines. However, they would also know that the Marines would not have helped him learn more fully unless they (or a government agency) were using him.
And so, it was, referring back to Marina’s interview with the Secret Service, that Oswald either told Marina he had purchased his text books in Moscow, or she simply assumed that he had. He was in Minsk over a year before he met her, and by that time, as Marina stated in other interviews, his Russian was quite good.
Let us return now to something Stout had told the HSCA – that is that he knew Oswald was learning Russian, but that he did not go anywhere for instruction and therefore was probably learning via mail through what he termed a Marine Educational Facility.
That Oswald did not go anywhere for instruction may or may not be true.
What is true is that there were opportunities for him to have gone elsewhere for Russian tuition and/or other training without his fellow Marines realizing it.
April 11, 1958: Oswald was court-martialed for possession of a privately owned unregistered weapon in contravention of General Order, paragraph 10 (a) 10 (b) and 10 (c) COMNAVJAPAN INST 5080.1C dated October 18, 1957 (Folsom Exhibit 1 p115).
The possession of the weapon had come to light due to Oswald “accidentally” shooting himself in the arm on October 27, 1957. Oswald had only arrived in Japan on September 12, 1957. In short, the regulation was a new one introduced only about a month prior to Oswald landing at Atsugi. Were such regs even made known to new arrivals? Oswald received 20 days in the brig suspended for 6 months and a loss of $35.00 in pay.
October 27, 1957 however represents the first opportunity for Oswald to receive specialized tuition or training. On that day, his records show he was admitted to the base hospital for the wound to his arm when his derringer was allegedly dropped and discharged. Oswald was allegedly kept in the hospital until November 15. That is 20 days, including day of admission and day of discharge. There was no circulatory, muscle or bone injury as a result of the wound and the slug was easily removed (Donabedian Exhibit 1 p606). To repeat for emphasis, Oswald was allegedly kept in the hospital for 20 days for this very minor wound. That is some endorsement for the toughness of Marines! While it is true that an initial bullet wound can take up to 10 days to heal, followed by surgery if needed, to remove the bullet and another 10 days healing, this would be for far more severe wounds. In civilian life, you could be sent home with pain killers and antibiotics, shown how to change the dressing, advised of any signs that should trigger a return to a doctor and scheduled for follow-up.
An example of this was described in the Newark Post on July 12, 2010. The report stated that “while sitting in the car, two males approached the vehicle and pointed guns at the victims. The 28 year- old male victim tried to run from the car and was shot in the arm. It also states that “the 28-year-old male victim was transported to the Christiana Hospital where he was treated and released for a gunshot wound to the arm.” It may be tempting to suggest this was only a flesh wound, but the wording (shot in the arm) suggests otherwise, it is likely though that the bullet passed straight through and did not lodge, or shattered, making it too risky to remove.
We might also suggest that Oswald was one lucky accident-prone Marine in that the bullet entered the one part of the arm at just the right angle to avoid any major damage. In the end, Oswald may well have been kept in hospital all of that time and the Marines were simply providing an abundance of caution. But we have our doubts.
June 27, 1958: Oswald was court-martialed for a second time on two charges arising from an incident with a Sergeant name Rodriguez. The first charge was “wrongfully using provoking words”. The second charge was “assault”. Oswald was found guilty on the first charge and not guilty on the second. This time he received 28 days in the brig and a $55.00 loss of pay while the original sentence from April of 20 days was also reinstated, giving a total brig time of 48 days, with Oswald being released on August 13.
But was he really in the brig all of that time? Time served in the brig is added on to your service obligation. In Oswald’s case, there were only 45 days added (Folsom Exhibit 1, p73) not the 48 days he is alleged to have served behind bars. The Marines had immersion language training or classroom courses which ran for 6-weeks.
Marines who have completed significant training programs may in some cases be retested in less than 6 months as an exception to policy [i.e. 6 months being the policy]. Requests for exception must be submitted for approval to CMC (MP) in accordance with reference (e). Requests for exception must document significant training. Normally, this training consists of at least 6 weeks of immersion training or 6 weeks (5 hours a day) of classroom training.
Time added to Oswald’s service obligation was 6 weeks and 5 days. Or put another way, it equaled one language course and 5 days briefings and travel time to and from.
Also note that you are tested after 6 months training.
Oswald completed his alleged brig time August 13, 1958. He sat for the Russian language course on February 25, 1959. This is a gap of approximately 6 months – a time period in which we know he was studying Russian on his own both at Atsugi and on his return to the US - specifically, the base at Santa Ana, which John Donovan described in testimony as a base which in part aimed to “train both enlisted men and officers for later assignment overseas”. As fellow Marine, Nelson Delgado put it in testimony before the Warren Commission regarding Oswald reading Russian language newspapers, presumed by Delgado to be Communist, “they let you get away with this in the Marine Corps in a site like this”.
But there was one further opportunity for special training or tuition before returning from Atsugi. According to the HSCA, Oswald spent one week in the Base Hospital from October 6, 1958 for a urethral discharge. Not one ex-military person consulted has considered this in any way, shape, or form, normal. In fact, a former crew member of the Skagit who runs a website about the ship, advised the authors that “treatment for NSU (Non-specific urethritis) and the Clap (Gonorrhea) only required Penicillin and restriction to the ship (no liberty). The restriction of liberty was not a punishment but a means of stopping further spread given that prostitution is rife around bases, particularly overseas. Indeed, because of the huge number of cases in the military, base hospitals would simply not cope with giving every case a bed – quite apart from it being unnecessary.
What his fellow Marines have said
Buddy Allen Simco
Simco, a clerk with MACS-9 at Santa Ana advised the FBI that it was “common knowledge” that Oswald was studying Russian. He also advised that at one time, he witnessed Oswald practicing on a tape-recorder. He further clarified that point in an online memoir, and it does have an innocent explanation. Not so, the other information he recalled which was that Oswald received Russian literature in the mail via Squadron S-3 operations – the very unit of MACS-9 Oswald was in.
From Simco’s memoir:
One summer afternoon I was taking a break in the recreation hut with Corporal "Rocky" Camarata and a few others. Rocky had his tape recorder and was taping an improvised comedy routine. Oswald walked in and asked if he could say a few words into the recorder. Rocky gave him the microphone and Oswald spoke in Russian for a few minutes, gesticulating as if addressing a large crowd. He played the recording back and seemed pleased at his proficiency with the language, but of course the rest of us did not understand what he had said.
Of most interest was Simco’s well-supported opinion expressed in the following
In view of other sources of information, I am convinced that Oswald had at that time already been recruited for intelligence work. Since he was a Marine, a branch of the Department of the Navy, this logically would have been with ONI, the Office of Naval Intelligence. With this in mind, I doubt he was being totally candid with anyone while he was in MACS-9.
Simco also asserted that Oswald appeared to be fairly advanced in conversational Russian at the time he reported to MACS-9. Obviously, he had begun his studies while in Japan.
Paul Edward Murphy
Murphy advised the FBI that it was “well known” to administration that Oswald was receiving “literature of a socialist nature” and that Oswald’s interest in the study of the Russian language was “common knowledge.”
Owen Devanovich
Told the FBI that Oswald received a Russian paper at Santa Ana.
Donald Peter Camarata
Knew Oswald at Santa Ana. Told the FBI that Oswald was rumored to have taken Russian language courses while in Japan.
Richard Dennis Call
Knew Oswald at Santa Ana. Told the FBI that Oswald was learning Russian through phonographic records.
James Anthony Botelho
Knew Oswald at Santa Ana. Confirmed that Oswald received a Russian language newspaper. After Oswald’s defection, he believed Oswald was probably a spy for the US on the basis that the defection received such little publicity. Botelho would later become a judge in his hometown of San Juan Bautista and at one time advised Buddy Simco that his (Botelho’s) Warren Commission testimony had been edited in such a way as to change the meaning of some of it – and that he was convinced that Oswald had not been guilty of shooting anyone on November 22nd, 1963
Conclusions
· Oswald’s capacity to learn different languages was assessed prior to or after entering the Marines and he was found to have an above average capacity
· Time allegedly occupying a hospital bed could have been cover for training
· Given the circumstances and time discrepancies around his being given brig time, it is likely that this was a cover for Oswald to leave the base for an intensive 6 weeks Russian language course
· Thereafter, Oswald continued to study the Russian language solo using textbooks and other materials, possibly with guidance by correspondence
· After about 6 months study, he was tested. These test results, particularly against reading and writing, were better than suggested. Overall, he was dragged down by a -5 in “understanding/listening” – a score that may have been adversely affected by deafness in one ear caused by Otitis Media – a condition he was treated for prior, during and after serving in the Marines.
· Oswald was selected prior to or after joining the Marines, for a mission behind the iron curtain. To prepare him for this mission, he was provided with one or more short but intensive training courses and then supplied with the materials to build on that through self-study.
· He was sent to Santa Ana after his tour of SEA for final arrangements regarding this mission.
The final word…
Goes to someone who actually took the Military Russian language test in 2017.
Hey everybody, it’s been a while since I posted here. As some of you know, I joined the Army to train to become a commissioned officer. In the military you get a chance to take different tests to get recognized for your skills. I took the DLPT for Russian. I figured that I knew how to talk with natives, read some simple news texts, and read recipes online, and I was offered the opportunity by my command, so I thought why not take the test? If one takes this test, receives a satisfactory grade, and it’s an in-demand language, you will get extra pay. The catch: it’s only available to take if you’re in the U.S. military.
I have to say, this is one difficult test. Even the native speakers of Spanish, Russian, and German were struggling, but mind you that they still achieved stellar scores. The test is comprised of reading and listening, so to the people that are hardcore LingQ users, this would be right up your alley! The first portion comprised of listening. We’d listen to a dialogue, either a rehearsed one, or a real clip from a news cast and we’d decipher what it is. You’d have to answer multiple choice questions. Not only you’d have to comprehend the question, you’d have to understand what the meaning of the passages were. Towards the end, the passages got a lot more difficult. My mind would turn into mush, because the vocabulary used were beyond my mode of understanding. They would get into topics such as Soviet military history and geopolitics. The questions would get more confusing themselves despite being in English. Even if you picked out some words in the passage, you don’t know if it’s part of the right answer, because the questions are looking for ‘the most-right answer’ rather than a right answer.
The second part of the test was reading. I did better at reading, but still struggled. If I had the vocabulary of a college student, I think I’d have done well. The format was the same; multiple choice, the questions trying to confuse you, and the question looking for the most-right answer rather than a right answer. I noticed that I could pick out a good fraction of the words and phrases, but like reading, my problem was vocabulary. If I had done more reading in varied topics, I’d done a lot better.
“Why are you telling us this, if we can’t take the test?” You might be asking. Good question! I wanted to see how my skills meshed up with military standards. I scored low, which I was disappointed, but not surprised at the same time. I think taking proficiency tests are a good way to gauge progress in learning, but I don’t think tests should be the end goal, because the philosophy by many here is “just have fun”. That being said, taking the test helped me reevaluate my learning methods in LingQ and encouraged me to start importing a lot of my own content to learn off of. My current goals are to expand my passive vocabulary even more, by focusing on quantity rather than quality, and to have more conversations with native speakers.
(https://www.lingq.com/en/forum/open-forum/i-took-the-defense-language-proficiency-test/)
In short, despite being able to converse with natives in Russian, he still scored “low” in the test.