THE CRISIS IN THE WHITE HOUSE : THE KEY PLAYERS : Alton G. Keel Jr. : <i> ‘Quick Intellect, Political Savvy’ but ‘Overbearing’ </i>

Alton G. Keel Jr., the bearded, bespectacled former aerospace engineer tapped by President Reagan on Tuesday to be his acting national security adviser, impresses many associates as a thorough, politically astute workaholic but alienates others who consider him overbearing.

“He has a remarkable combination of very quick intellect and political savvy,” said Edwin L. Dale Jr., spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, where Keel once headed the national security and international affairs staff.

“Very perceptive and dedicated . . . drives himself harder than anyone else,” agreed David Sitrin, who worked under Keel at OMB.

However, Keel, who also served as executive director of the commission investigating the Challenger space shuttle accident, was sharply criticized by some commission colleagues for his management style.

“He was overbearing and sycophantic,” said one commission member who declined to be identified. “If (commission chairman William) Rogers sneezed, out came Keel’s handkerchief.”

Keel, 43, has risen swiftly through government ranks. He began his career in 1971 in naval weapons research and tested models of orbiters for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

In 1977, Keel moved on to Capitol Hill, becoming a top aide to former Sen. John G. Tower (R-Tex.) on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Associates said he was instrumental in buttressing Reagan’s case for huge military spending increases.

In 1981, Keel was chosen by the White House to be assistant secretary of the Air Force for research, development and logistics. He soon became one of two candidates to be secretary, although he did not get the job.

A year later, Keel joined the budget office and earned high marks for assembling Reagan’s fiscal 1986 budget after the departure of OMB Director David A. Stockman.

After the Challenger commission completed its report last June, Keel signed on with the National Security Council staff and became deputy director a month later when the incumbent, Donald R. Fortier, became ill.

Dale said that one of Keel’s chief talents is an ability to deal with key members of Congress.

“Al is very good at protecting the President’s interests in negotiations on the Hill,” Dale said. “He has played a major role in settling issues with Congress, such as the defense bill riders on arms control and other issues this year. He made the best out of a bad situation on foreign aid. And he was in the middle of negotiating export controls, breaking a major deadlock between the House and Senate.”

Keel is known for his insistence on gathering reams of information and thoroughly examining an issue before making a decision.

At OMB, associates said, he displayed an ability with numbers equal to that of Stockman and was considered a possible successor when Stockman resigned.

“In some sense, he is almost like a clone of Stockman in the way he deals with numbers,” an OMB official said.

“He’s pretty tough at dragging the information out of the bureaucracy, whether it is good or bad,” Tidal W. McCoy, an assistant secretary of the Air Force, said. “He’s reasonably quiet, but he isn’t the real shy scientific type who can’t speak up or doesn’t have personality.”

Keel was born in Newport News, Va., and received degrees in aerospace engineering and engineering physics from the University of Virginia. He attended UC Berkeley as a post-doctoral scholar.