Paul Nicholas Whelan, born March 5, 1970, in Ottawa, Canada, is a U.S. Marine veteran with multiple citizenships including U.
S., British, Irish, and Canadian. He pursued a career in law enforcement in the 1990s, working as a police officer in Chelsea, Michigan, and a patrol officer in Keego Harbor.
In 1994, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, serving from 2003 to 2008, which included deployment to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.