By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Paul McKenney says he comes from a family with a tradition of serving their nation. As he lists each member and their branch of service, however, “family tradition” may be putting it lightly.
McKenney’s own military experience includes 25 years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army and he currently serves part time as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. The Cape Elizabeth resident graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in western New York as a Distinguished Military Graduate in 1982.
McKenney is the current chairman of the town council and on Tuesday was re-elected to another three-year term. In his civilian career, McKenney is the president and owner of McKenney True Wealth Advisors, a financial planning and asset management firm.
During a recent interview, McKenney said his list of family veterans begins with his father, who was a World War II Navy combat veteran. The elder McKenney raised seven boys who would all go into the military. Between them, McKenney and his brothers have served in the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the Army National Guard and the Maine Army National Guard.
Two of McKenney’s brothers as well as a nephew have been deployed to Afghanistan. A sister-in-law also served in Iraq for a year.
McKenney’s three children: 23-year-old Jacqueline and 22-year-old twins Alexander and Aaron, are also continuing the tradition. Jacqueline, a 2006 Maine Maritime Academy graduate, is a U.S. Navy Officer serving on the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, which is now steaming to the Persian Gulf at a time of increasing tension between the United States and Iran.
More than 3,000 sailors aboard the Truman deployed from their home port of Norfolk, Virginia on Nov. 5 as the centerpiece of a 7,500 service member strong, multi-vessel  strike group to provide support for Maritime Security Operations in the area, according to a news release from the U.S. Navy.
McKenney’s sons graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in May. Both Alexander and Aaron are Second Lieutenants in the U.S. Army Infantry and are training to be Army Rangers.
McKenney said he never had any hesitations about his children’s decision to go into the military.
“I think they were always intrigued by it because I was serving and all my brothers served,” McKenney said. “I never directed them in that manner. They selected the opportunities they wanted to pursue.”
McKenney said his own decision to go into the Army was based primarily on the educational and professional development opportunities it could provide. The Army also presented an opportunity to fly, literally. An avid sailor, McKenney didn’t have any early aspirations to be a pilot, but he took to the skies when the Army gave him the chance.
He served nine years on active duty as an aviation officer, commanding the Army’s Apache attack helicopter as well as reconnaissance scout helicopters and multipurpose “Hueys.”
He flew border missions between what was East and West Germany during the height of the Cold War.
“It wasn’t the type of combat people think about,” McKenney said. “Our mission at that time was to defend against a potential Soviet attack.”
All three of McKenney’s children were born in military hospitals in Germany. Incidentally, his daughter was born in a navy hospital and his sons were born in an army hospital. It’s no wonder the military is “in their blood,” as McKenney said.
The young family spent roughly three years in Germany before returning to the states. McKenney estimated he and his wife, Betsy, and the children moved 12 times in nine years and lived in Alabama, Minnesota and Texas.
McKenney is still required to undergo physical training and could be deployed at any time, although he said there isn’t as much of a  need for officers of his rank.
Still, McKenney said, “I’m happy to go if they need me.”
“I think that the service is a great place to be,” he said. “There’s nothing more important than serving ones nation in my opinion.”
Addressing the current situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, McKenney said while the military leaders can tell politicians what they need on the ground, the military cannot control public policy.
    McKenney said from the beginning there haven’t been enough troops on the ground and because of that troops have had to maintain law and order while also trying to accomplish the mission at hand.  
Years of strategic thinking - and his background in Boy Scouts - has trained McKenney to be prepared for the unexpected and he has passed on his knowledge as an instructor at both the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and United States Military Academy at West Point in New York.
McKenney is currently instructing Canadian military officers in leadership, military history and strategic studies at the Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College in Kingston Ontario as part of a NATO assignment.
McKenney said in his case and in the case of other men and women who spent their “formative adulthood” in active duty, members of the armed services are given more responsibility than their civilian counterparts. The service is an opportunity to rapidly learn about leadership and management, he said.