His background includes various duties in medical and aircraft maintenance, and as a first sergeant and Command Chief Master Sergeant at wing, numbered air force and major command levels.

He was appointed to the position of Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force on June 30, 2006.

McKinley retired from the United States Air Force in June 2009, having served for over 30 years.

From then to November 2012, he was senior vice president for strategic partnerships at MicroTech, a privately held information technology services company.

This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Air Force