Paul entered Army service in 1945 and spent two years in the Army including a stop at the US Military Academy Prep School at Stewart Field. He joined the class on 1 July 1947. He opted for the Air Force upon graduation. His first assignment was to the 3302nd Training Squadron at Spence AFB, Moultrie, Georgia, for flight training. There the flight surgeon ended his flying career before it began by determining, during the flight physical that we all had to take as soon as we arrived at our flight training base, that he had a tendency toward color blindness. From Spence, he decided to take on the responsibilities of being a contracting officer.

He was assigned to Headquarters, Second Air Force, at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana serving there for two years. His contracting officer skills got him assigned to several bases, including a tour in the UK, where he married his wife Joan. In 1961, he was assigned to Headquarters, Strategic Air Command, at Offut AFB, Nebraska. From SAC he went to graduate school at the Air Force Institute of Technology, earning a Master of Science Degree in Systems management. He immediately put this new-found skill to work at the Electronic Systems Division, one of four Air Force principal system acquisition organizations. After two years there, he was assigned to the Electronic Systems Division-Europe, the organization responsible for managing important new Air Force electronic development or installation programs in which the principal customer is in Europe. In '76 he joined US Air Forces Europe. He retired from the Air Force a few years later as a LTC.