Long Beach City College trustee Jeff Kellogg happened to be in the neighborhood Monday night, so he swung by the White House to pay a visit to his brother Keith, who had just been appointed as interim national security adviser to the Trump administration.
There might have been a better time to visit. Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg’s appointment came shortly after the resignation of Gen. Michael Flynn and at the same time President Donald Trump was hosting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“I thought people would be rushing around. I thought it would be a mad house,” said Jeff Kellogg. “But (what) you notice right away is calm professionalism everywhere. Everyone just doing their job. Everyone I saw said, ‘We have to tell you how much we respect and admire your brother.’ ”
The brothers, a decade apart in age, dined at the Navy Mess at the White House — the first time for both of them. “Then we went outside to grab some fresh air,” said Jeff Kellogg. “We walked over near the Rose Garden outside the Oval Office and I turned to Keith and said, ‘Can you believe this? We’re here at the White House! And he looked at me and said, ‘The day you don’t get a special feeling looking at the White House and working at the White House is the day you walk away. Every day I feel so honored to be here.’
“He didn’t have to sell me, he was just saying what he feels,” said Jeff Kellogg, who was in Washington for an Association of Community College Trustees legislative conference.
Keith Kellogg, now 72, will serve as acting national security adviser for the Trump administration until a successor — possibly himself — is named to succeed Michael Flynn, who resigned Monday, following reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his discussions with Russia prior to Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
The president is also reported to be considering Robert Harward, a former Navy SEAL who rose to the rank of vice admiral and served as deputy commander of the United States Central Command under Gen. James Mattis, now defense secretary, as well as former four-star general and CIA chief David Petraeus. Petraeus received widespread acclaim for his leadership during the Iraq War but had to leave the CIA in 2012 after revealing classified information to a biographer with whom he had an affair.
Kellogg was among retired flag officers who endorsed Trump during his campaign against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and repeatedly spoke in favor of now-President Trump in public appearances.
“We believe he’s got the temperament, the leadership, the qualities we want in a commander in chief,” Kellogg said during an Oct. 24 interview on Trending Today USA, a talk radio show.
“He listens, and then he makes a hard decision, and then he commits to accomplishing the mission going forward,” Kellogg also said of the future president during that interview.
Long Beach roots
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Kellogg and his three siblings grew up in Long Beach with parents Joseph and Helen Costello Kellogg. The elder Kellogg worked in the oil business and was an early/founding member of The Petroleum Club. The Kellogg siblings — Michael, Kathie and Jeff — have all achieved high levels of success in different fields.
Michael played professional football for the Denver Broncos, taught public school in Torrance before going into law. He now serves as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. Kathie is a clinical psychiatrist and Jeff is a former Long Beach city councilman and current trustee for the Long Beach Community College District.
Keith Kellogg graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School, where he played football and was an all-CIF track athlete, in 1962.
“I just remember he was a very upright guy, very popular. We all liked him, but I didn’t hear from him after he went off to college,” classmate Jim Pitbaldo said.
At Poly, Kellogg was in Comus, a fraternity for “cool guys,” according to Ralph Hetzel, Class of 1961.
Kellogg continued his studies at Santa Clara University, where he played football and joined the Army ROTC. He graduated in 1966 and earned a second lieutenant’s commission in 1967 before going to Vietnam.
He earned his first Silver Star during the early months of his deployment after an engagement in which he pulled a wounded comrade away from the shooting before assaulting an enemy bunker system while armed with a machine gun and grenades.
“I’d been in Vietnam for two months,” he said in a 1969 news report after returning stateside to command a basic training company at Fort Lewis, Washington. “I began to wonder if I’d make it through a year.”
Kellogg later earned a second Silver Star, Bronze Star and South Vietnam’s Vietnam Gallantry Cross for his actions during additional fighting near the Bien Hoa Air Base where he and his compatriots were at one point down to their final magazine of ammunition while having only 10 yards of earth between themselves and their enemies.
During yet another incident, Kellogg accompanied a major general on board a helicopter that landed under fire, resulting in the general sustaining a wound. Kellogg, armed with an M-60 machine gun, followed orders to pursue Viet Cong fighters in the area before U.S. commanders pressed the attack with artillery and troops. This action resulted in Kellogg earning the Air Medal and Distinguished Service Cross.
“After you’ve read about what he’s done, you’re glad you didn’t know about it originally,” his mother said in 1969.
Later career
Kellogg returned to Southeast Asia in the role of a Special Forces adviser to the Cambodian Army, according to the Fayetteville Observer’s coverage of his taking command of the 82nd Airborne Division at in November 1996 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He had also served during Operation: Just Cause, the 1989-90 invasion of Panama and as the 82nd’s chief of staff during the Persian Gulf War.
Kellogg retired from the military in June 2003, after working for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a position where he was “an outspoken information technology advocate,” according to FCW, a publication for technology professionals in the federal government. He joined Oracle Corp. shortly after his retirement before serving as chief operating officer of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, the interim governing body following the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
His private sector experience also includes time with CACI International, a contractor for defense, intelligence and homeland security agencies and Cubic Corp., which develops military training and communications systems.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The short list
Here’s a look at the top named contenders for the post of national security adviser, which does not require Senate confirmation:
RETIRED LT. GEN. KEITH KELLOGG
Kellogg had previously been appointed the National Security Council chief of staff and, along with Flynn, advised Trump on national security and foreign policy issues during the campaign. He had been considered for national security adviser before the post went to Flynn.
Kellogg was chief operating officer of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, the interim governing body following the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. He previously worked as executive vice president of research and technology for Virginia-based information technology firm CACI International, which works as a contractor for defense, intelligence and homeland security agencies.
DAVID PETRAEUS
The most audacious choice would likely be former CIA director David Petraeus. Petraeus, a retired four star general, who was bounced from his position atop the intelligence agency in 2012 after it was revealed that he passed on classified information to his biographer, who had also become his mistress.
But Trump during the campaign spoke sympathetically about Petraeus’ plight despite his frequent criticisms of his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified materials. Petraeus was briefly under consideration to become secretary of State before Trump picked Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson.
RETIRED VICE ADM. ROBERT HARWARD
Robert Harward, a former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of the United States Central Command when it was under the command of Gen. James Mattis, who is now secretary of Defense. He served on the National Security Council for President George W. Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center.
Upon retirement in 2013 after a nearly 40-year career in the Navy, Harward took a post as a chief executive officer for defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates. Trump has recently been in very public negotiations with Lockheed over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet program.
— The Associated Press
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