In 1982, Kawalsky was a member of Jack O'Neill's squad when he was a Captain. On a mission to East Germany in 1982 to extract a Russian spy named Boris, their commander, Colonel John Michaels was killed. It was this mission that The Keeper made O'Neill relive when he was hooked into the Virtual reality pod. (SG1: "The Gamekeeper") By 1996, he had achieved the rank of Major and was assigned to Project Giza in Cheyenne Mountain. (Stargate)