Portage Grad Serves at The President's Elbow:
David Kalinske accompanied President Barack Obama on trip to Kalamazoo
Re-print from Kalamazoo Gazette - June 2010
By Kathy Jessup

Note: Mr. David Kalinske is a Cho Dan in Tang Soo Do and student of Master Floyd Soo, 6th Dan,
of Floyd Soo Korean Karate in Orion Michigan. He earned his Cho before becoming a Top Gun pilot.
 

Official White House photo by Pete Souza David Kalinske, a 1988 Portage Central graduate, is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps who is assigned to President Barack Obama. This photo was taken by the official White House photographer, Pete Souza, in October 2009 when Kalinske's rank was major. Kalinske's family, and their current ages, are from left: Tyler, 11; Kade, 9; Chase, 2; and Ava, 6

WASHINGTON — In the late 1980s, David Kalinske carried the football for the Portage Central Mustangs.

Now he has spent nearly two years carrying the country’s "nuclear football" - containing the codes to launch an atomic attack - for two U.S. presidents.

Kalinske, 39, a 1988 Portage Central alumnus, has the credentials for Tom Cruise swagger. But he remains low-key about his assignment at the elbow of the president. He’s a Top Gun military pilot and flew "Shock and Awe" bombing raids during Operation Iraqi Freedom from a U.S. aircraft carrier.

On Monday, Kalinske was the Marine lieutenant colonel who was never far from President Barack Obama's immediate circle when the president came to address Kalamazoo Central High School graduates. After four tours of duty, Kalinske said he expected to get a Pentagon assignment two years ago where life would be a bit more normal for the married father of four.
But the Marines had something else in mind, selecting Kalinske to represent it as military aide to the president of the United States.

He was appointed to the position during the final year of President George W. Bush’s tenure in office and stayed on when Barack Obama was sworn in. The job of being the military shadow to the president demands rotating, 24-hour shifts and comes with an office in the East Wing of the White House and sleeping quarters there. Unlike movie versions of his job, Kalinske said the attache containing the president's nuclear launch codes is never chained to his wrist as he accompanies the commander-in-chief to all sorts of appearances and trips. But Kalinske's former Portage football coach Bob Knight said he wouldn’t be likely to lose a physical tussle for any football.

"He was a tough kid, a very determined kid," Knight recalled, saying Kalinske made the University of Iowa’s football traveling squad before transferring his junior to Michigan State University, where he gave up the sport to focus on his studies. "If he decided he was going to do something, he pretty much did it. Of course we're very proud of him."

His advance arrival here Saturday allowed Kalinske to attend a graduation party for the son of his former Portage Central football and wrestling teammate, Eric Munson, and see former coaches. Prior to this visit, Kalinske said he hadn't been back to Portage since 1996 when he flew a military training jet in a Kalamazoo air show.

Among their duties with the president, Kalinske and his colleagues assist the chief executive at military ceremonies such as wreath-layings and medal presentations. And when the president"s personal aide isn't available, those more mundane details also can fall to the military personnel.

Describing his role as "very apolitical," Kalinske skillfully sidesteps questions about the policy differences between Presidents Bush and Obama. He's more comfortable reflecting on the men. "With both presidents, I will say it’s been almost surprising how they're normal people," he said. "They're very down to earth and with all the controversy and attention they get, they want to be normal too. I found both of them to be different personalities, but both very personable and they've been very good to my family."

		David Kalinske and his children (from left), Kade, Tyler and Ava with then-President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush

The Kalinske family, including children aged 11, 9, 6 and 2, has Oval Office photographs with George and Laura Bush and Obama, plus a picture with Obama at Camp David.

A bag is always packed when you're a presidential aide. But the travel can be one of the most fascinating aspects of the job, from state visits to the secret trips to greet troops serving in war zones. Kalinske said meeting the Japanese emperor in his personal residence was a special opportunity. "We had a very amazing meal there and typically the emperor doesn't allow anyone in the personal residence," Kalinske said. He also over-nighted in the King of Saudi Arabia's vacation palace. And it was no cottage. "To be in a place like that in a Marine Corp. uniform is very interesting," said Kalinske, who lives in northern Virginia.

Kalinske's family came to Portage when his father, a doctor, went to do research for the then-Upjohn Co. The Michigan State University political science graduate joined the Marines and went to officer candidate school at Quantico, Va. in 1993, following a lifelong, but unpursued interest in aviation. "I had never flown an airplane until the first day of flight school."

Fast-forward to 2001 and Kalinske was among the best-of-the-best military aviators, invited first to be a Top Gun pilot, then an aviation training officer.

Kalinske’s two-year White House assignment began near the end of the Bush Administration and his successor is in the wings.

"I served initially for President Bush, through the Inauguration process and I saw the White House empty out and fill up with the new administration," he said. "The transition between the two presidents really didn't change my job in any way."

Kalinske said he's awaiting word on his next military assignment, hoping he'll be back in the air.

"There's a new F-35 fighter that's going to be coming out."