President greeted by MV mayor, 129th Rescue Wing

President Barack Obama has arrived in the Bay Area today for Democratic fundraisers as well as a speech in Mountain View on Friday.

Obama arrived in Air Force One, which touched down at 4:11 p.m. at Moffett Federal Airfield at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View.

As he walked down the steps from the plane dressed in a dark suit and blue tie at 4:24 p.m., he greeted officials including NASA Ames Research Center Director Pete Worden; Col. Steven Butow, commander of the 138th Rescue Wing; Mountain View Mayor Christopher Clark; and Sunnyvale Mayor Jim Griffith.

He then greeted about 60 invited civilians and members of the military gathered there, first saying hello to 5-year-old Chesaweh Darch-Sharp of Pinole, whom he asked, “Do you want to go with me?”

Someone was holding Darch-Sharp out for the president after the boy had wandered away from his parents and worked his way to the front row, his father Cameron Sharp said.

“He just wound his way and someone lifted him up,” Sharp said. “It’s pretty exciting to have my little 5-year-old up there first.”

Sharp said he was invited, along with his son and wife Ajira Darch, by his brother, who serves in the U.S. Army.

Obama also posed for picture with members of the 129th Rescue Wing of the California Air National Guard, who helped to rescue a sick infant on board a sailing vessel about 900 nautical miles off the coast of Mexico last month.

The 129th has saved 1,007 civilian and military lives since 1977, according to 2nd Lt. Roderick Bersamina.

After departing Moffett Field, Obama arrived at the home of 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki in Los Altos at 4:54 p.m. for a roundtable discussion and fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee.

Later he is scheduled to attend a fundraiser at the Fairmont Hotel at 170 S. Market St. in San Jose, according to the White House.

The president will spend the night in San Jose and on Friday morning will give a speech on energy efficiency at a Walmart at 600 Showers Drive in Mountain View.

The speech is scheduled to begin at about 10 a.m. He will then depart the Bay Area from Moffett Field later that morning, White House officials said.

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