Paul McHale

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For the Scottish footballer, see Paul McHale (footballer).
Paul McHale
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense
In office
February 7, 2003 – January 20, 2009
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPaul N. Stockton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 15th district
In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1999
Preceded byDonald L. Ritter
Succeeded byPat Toomey
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 133rd district
In office
January 1983 – February 25, 1991[1]
Preceded byGeorge Kanuck
Succeeded byKatherine McHale
Personal details
Born
Paul Francis McHale Jr.

(1950-07-26) July 26, 1950 (age 73)
Navy Commendation Medal (2)
DOD Distinguished Public Service Medal
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps Reserve
Years of service1972-1974 (active)
1974-2007 (reserve)
RankColonel
Battles/warsGulf War
War in Afghanistan

Paul Francis McHale Jr. (born July 26, 1950) is a retired American lawyer and politician as well as a United States Marine. From 2003 to 2009, he served as the

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense. From 1993 to 1999, he represented Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives
.

McHale was the founder and former president of Civil Support International LLC (2010-2020), a

National University of Ireland Maynooth
.

Education and military service

McHale was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Liberty High School.

McHale received a

Navy Commendation Medal
(2nd award).

In October 2006, McHale was recalled to active Marine Corps duty to deploy to Afghanistan.[2] For McHale's service as both a Congressman and Assistant Secretary of Defense, McHale was awarded the DoD Distinguished Public Service Medal – the department's highest civilian honor – by three successive Secretaries of Defense.

Politics

McHale was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1983 to 1991, resigning in order to volunteer for active duty in the Gulf War. In 1992, he ran for Congress and defeated 14-year incumbent Don Ritter in a major upset, with the support of significant numbers of Democratic, Republican and Independent voters in the Lehigh Valley.

While serving in Congress, McHale was an active member of the

House Armed Services Committee
and he co-founded the National Guard and Reserve Components Caucus.

McHale gained prominence in 1998 when he called for

Gene Taylor
, all of whom had very conservative voting records. Goode, Hall and Taylor subsequently became Republicans, while McHale served in the Bush administration.

Legal career

McHale began representing Panda Energy International in 1999, after the completion of his term in the U.S. House of Representatives, during Panda's legal and public relations battles which took place in his former congressional district.[3][4]

Assistant Secretary of Defense

McHale briefing at The Pentagon during the October 2007 California wildfires

Nominated by President George W. Bush, McHale was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and assumed his position as Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) for Homeland Defense (HD) on February 7, 2003. The first to hold this position, McHale supervised all homeland defense activities for the U.S. Department of Defense and represented the Department at the highest levels of U.S. domestic crisis planning. He left DoD in January 2009 at the end of the George W. Bush administration.

As Assistant Secretary of Defense, McHale was responsible for senior civilian oversight of two geographic combatant commands, Northern Command and Southern Command, as well as DoD Western Hemisphere policy affairs, Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA), and the transfer of technologies to homeland security use pursuant to Section 1401 of the 2003 National Defense Authorization Act.

Personal life

He is married to

U.S. National Guard to serve as a state Adjutant General and a former congressional candidate from Vermont.[5]
He has three children Matthew, Mary, and Luke McHale from a previous marriage to Katherine Pecka McHale.[6]

See also

  • List of United States political appointments that crossed party lines

References

  • United States Congress. "Paul McHale (id: M000466)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
  • "PAUL MCHALE - Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense". www.defenselink.mil. United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original on August 5, 2006. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  • "Congressman Paul McHale - Pennsylvania 15th District". www.house.gov/mchale. United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on August 13, 1997.
  • "Congressman Paul McHale - Military History". www.house.gov/mchale. United States House of Representatives. June 13, 1997. Archived from the original on August 13, 1997.
  1. ^ Cox, Harold (November 3, 2004). "Pennsylvania House of Representatives - 1991-1992" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
  2. ^ AP article, (October 13, 2006)
  3. ^ Morning Call Article, (February 25, 2000)
  4. ^ Morning Call Article, (February 03, 2002)
  5. ^ Express-Times article, (January 12, 2009)
  6. ^ Morning Call article, June 5, 1991

External links

Media related to Paul McHale at Wikimedia Commons

Archives at
LocationMuhlenberg College Special Collections
Sourcedigital description
How to use archival material
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district

1993–1999 		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Representative 		Succeeded byas Former US Representative
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