Potential Trump Defense Sec'y Has Long Beach Family Ties

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(November 14, 2016, 11:05 a.m.) -- The Washington Post reports that among the list of potential picks for Secretary of Defense in a Trump administration is retired Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Keith Kellogg, Jr.

If one listened closely on election night, among those Donald Trump thanked at the podium as he first spoke publicly as President-elect was General Kellogg...and yes, he's part of the Kellogg family with roots in Long Beach.

Lt. Gen. Kellogg (born in May 1944) and his brothers and sister all grew up in Long Beach. Jeff Kellogg served on the Long Beach City Council (8th district) from 1988-2000, exiting under term limits and winning election in 2002 to the Long Beach Community College Board of Trustees where he continues to serve. Brother Mike Kellogg is an L.A. County Superior Court Judge. Sister Kathie Kellogg-Taxe, Ph.D is a clinical psychologist. All attended LBUSD schools (Keith, Mike and Kathie at Poly, Jeff at Jordan.)

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In a November 11, 2016 story at this link, the Washington Post reports that "no decisions have been made and the current list for possible defense secretary picks still centers around retired Army Lt. Gen. Joseph "Keith" Kellogg, former Defense Intelligence Agency director Gen. Mike Flynn and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R, Ala.)" although "according to two sources familiar with the ongoing negotiations" the Trump team has now added the name of U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R, NH) [defeated in her re-election bid on Nov. 8.]

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On March 21, 2016, the Washington Post reported at this link that in a meeting with its editorial board, candidate Trump listed members of a team chaired by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) that is counseling him on foreign affairs and helping to shape his policies...and the team included retired Lt. Gen. Kellogg along with Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, Walid Phares and Joseph E. Schmitz.

Lt. Gen. Kellogg served two tours in Vietnam (from a rifle company to Green Berets) and rose to become Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division. During Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm from 1990 to 1991, he served as the chief of staff for the 82nd Airborne, retiring from the Army in 2003 after serving as the director of command, control, communications and computers for U.S. forces under the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During his military career, he earned the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, and several Bronze Stars.

Following his Army retirement, Kellogg held positions with a number of defense/national security-related firms [source: Ballotpedia.com]: GTSI (board member), Oracle (Sr. VP), CACI International (Exec. VP), Cubic Defense Applications (Sr. VP) and Abraxis (President of Cubic subsidiary). He took a leave of absence from Oracle from Nov. 2003-Mar. 2004 to serve as Chief Operations Operations Officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq (the group tasked with forming a new military and rebuilding the country after the fall of Saddam Hussein. In that position, Kellogg was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, its highest civilian defense award.

Developing.