He spent his formative years in Pennsylvania, graduating from Shamokin Area High School, and early on, decided he wanted to be a Penn State Nittany Lion.

While Kehler was in college, the Vietnam War caused a controversy on campus and his ROTC unit was omitted from the Penn State Yearbook for the years 1971–1973.

Shortly, he attended Missile Combat Crew Operational Readiness Training at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

He then served as a personnel staff officer at the Headquarters of the US Air Force in Washington, D.C. His first son, Matt was born in February 1982.

Following his tour working on Capitol Hill, he attended and graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, from January to June 1988.

In July 1991 Lieutenant Colonel Kehler took command of the 508th Missile Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

In August 1994, Col. Kehler attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, graduating with a Master of Arts degree in national security and strategic studies in July 1995.

In June 1996, he moved on to take command of the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

In June 1998, the Kehler family again returned to Washington, D.C., as Col. Kehler became Chief of the Space Superiority Division and Chairman of the Space Superiority and Nuclear Deterrence Panel in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs at the US Air Force Headquarters at The Pentagon.

As chair of the panel, Col. Kehler managed the $45 billion Air Force space program through the corporate resource allocation process.

He also made a brief stop back in his home state of Pennsylvania to attend the Program for Executives sponsored by Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

From his command tour, he returned to Washington, D.C., as Director of National Security Space Integration in the Office of the Undersecretary of the Air Force.