Growing Up With the Secret Service

It won't be just a change of houses for the Obama family come inauguration day. It will most certainly be an entirely new way of life -- especially for the kids.

They've already had a taste of Secret Service protection during the 21 months of the long campaign. But as the old seventies song says, "You ain't seen nothing yet!"

I dialed up a pal of mine the other day, Scott Alswang, a retired Special Agent with the Secret Service. From 1984 to 2004 he guarded all the Presidents, from Regan to "W" and almost all of the foreign heads of state who visited them in between. Alswang walked me through what the two Obama girls can expect.

First, they've already gotten their new monikers. You know, those pithy code names Secret Service agents use when they refer to those they protect? Ten year old Malia Obama's shortcut name is Radiance. Seven year-old Sasha will be referred to as Rosebud. (By the way the new President is Renegade, First Lady Michelle is Renaissance.)

Before they go to their first day in their new school the Secret Service will have run background checks on the school's staff and maybe some of the students and their families. Agents will accompany the girls to and from everyday. They may, depending on space, set up a small command center inside the building. If not they'll set one up outside. They may tap into the school's closed circuit camera system if there is one.

How many agents will be assigned to the girls? "The appropriate number to get the job done," according to my still secretive friend, Agent Alswang.

When Malia and Sasha want to have new friends over to the White House to play, those friends and their families will probably have undergone a discreet background check. And on the actual day of the play date what happens when the child arrives? As Agent Alswang put it, "No one gets inside the White House without passing through a name check and a magnetometer."

What if the two Obama daughters want to go on a typical sleepover at a friend's house? You guessed it. The Secret Service will go too. Agents will conduct a site survey ahead of time and figure out where in the house the children might spend time. Escape routes will be devised just in case. The agents will either stay outside in a command vehicle or if there's room they'll set up inside the house.

"We're not there to intrude on others privacy," Alswang told me. But the Secret Service protection duties are three fold. "Observe and sound off, that is yell, 'GUN' or whatever the threat is. Cover the protected person and evacuate them from the problem area."

If President Obama wins a second four year term the girls will be of prime dating age. Then what happens with his daughters? Answer: There won't be a hand held, a first kiss or a high school dance that the Secret Service won't attend.

The agents do try to be unobtrusive. If they have to protect someone at a school dance, for example, they'll show up in formal wear and try to blend in. But, come on - how many prom goers are wearing squiggly ear pieces and talk into their shirt cuffs?

I had to ask Agent Alswang what might happen if the Obama girls misbehave as the Bush twins, Barbara and Jenna, did when they were caught drinking at age 19? That incidence at a Tex-Mex bar in Austin in 2001 resulted in the twins being slapped with misdemeanor charges.

Does the Secret Service discipline presidential children? Do they tattle to the parents if the kids act out in a major way?

Alswang says agents always try to "bring some common sense to the situation but if it's bad enough" they might have to resort to telling the First Parents. And, he told me, "It goes the other way too ... the Bush girls tattled on the agents they thought were too aggressive, especially in the beginning." He says Jenna and Barbara's Dad was "always happy to get the complaints. He knew we were doing the job."

It is tradition at the end of an Agent's lengthy assignment to the First Family to get a personal send off from the President and First Lady. When the detail around the twins finally rotated out after a long tour the President is reported to have called them in and said, " Laura and I would like to thank you for letting us sleep every night while you were up every night watching the girls. I'm trying to figure out a way to award you the Medal of Freedom!"

Welcome to Washington Malia and Sasha....have a great childhood!

Diane Dimond's website is: www.DianeDimond.net. She can be reached at: [e-mail].

Comments

[Charmed]

The girls have the advantage of being covered for 2 years before going to the White House. I pray they remain balanced as they are now.

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

Charmed - I have great hope and faith in the girls!! they seem to have a great foundation, right?~ DD

[keepacoolhead]

I have no doubt that especially for them being young children having the Secret Service guys around is fun and exciting, "like in the movies."

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

keepacoolhead - yeah, until they start to date...and then they'll wish they could cuddle and kiss without someone with a headset in the back seat!!!! hahahaha
~DD

[moda31]

they seem like very well behaved children, and i'm sure they'll totally charm their secret service details (wasn't there a story about the girls writing them valentines a while back?). while i can only imagine how awkward this kind of constant shadowing & extensive security procedure could be, it's good to hear that the girls already feel somewhat comfortable asking the agents for their space (apparently malia asked them to hang back a bit so she could be more normal when they visited schools); it can be hard for kids to tell even familiar adults how they feel about something. here's hoping they do a fantastic job of keeping these two precious girls safe, with minimal inconvenience, & help give daddy barack a little piece of mind when they reach dating age.

[LiberalBuzz]

As with everything there are Pluses and Minuses.

Although right now the pluses outweigh the minuses by a very long shot.

I have faith in the SS to keep those two little girls safe.

[jdmba]

The idea of the Secret Service dressing up in young people's clothes to "blend in" at a school dance makes me laugh... Baggy jeans and XXL plain white tees.

[Bashley]

LOL! Hey, they have to dress to cover all the teen trends, one hip hop, one Emo, one skateboarder, etc.....

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

jdmba - can you imagine an SS agent getting a buzz cut design in their hair to "blend in?"
Funny! ~ DD

[kellygrrrl]

Michelle and Barack seem like spectacular parents. I hope that a great many Americans follow the lead of this First Family. I'm certain these two girls will be kept in balance and in love.

[Just2stressed]

Yes, they are great parents...however, if I were the kids, I would be crying bloody murder, for them giving me $1 a week, as allowance....that's crazy...lol....

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

Kellygrrrl - I have great hope that the Obamas will instill in lots of people their values of family, love, responsibility, education, etc.
Geez, wouldn't that be great!?

[duze]

Do a fantastic job, Keep them safe.

[harriscrl3]

I'm sure they wont have much problem with Malia and Sasha they seem like little darlings to me of course once they start dating all bets are off.

And you thought your dad spying on you and your date from the front porch was an invasion of privacy...

Carol

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

Carol - I remember when my mother would stand at the front door and flash the porch light on and off as a signal to me to get my butt in from my date's car - parked in the driveway as he drove me home from a dance or date.
Guess Malia and Sasha won't have THAT experience but they'll come away with great memories I bet! ~ DD