Lieutenant Colonel Paul Truog is a native of Illinois and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in May 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Economics. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and assigned to attend The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, in July 2006. After completing the Basic School, he attended Aviation Preflight Indoctrination in Pensacola, Florida, with follow-on training at NAS Corpus Christi for Primary Flight training.  In October 2008, he was selected for jet training and began Intermediate/Advanced Flight Training at NAS Meridian, Mississippi.  In August 2009, he was winged as a Naval Aviator and he reported to Marine Attack Training Squadron 203, Cherry Point, North Carolina, for training in the AV-8B Harrier.
 
In October 2010, Capt Truog executed orders to MAG-13 in Yuma, Arizona, and was assigned to Marine Attack Squadron 513. While assigned to the Nightmares, he served as a Schedule Writer and the Assistant Operations Officer.  In May 2011, he deployed Kandahar, Afghanistan, flying combat missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In December 2012, he once again deployed with VMA-513 to Japan in support of the 31st MEU. Upon completion of this deployment, VMA-513 was decommissioned, and he was reassigned within MAG-13 to Marine Attack Squadron 311. At VMA-311, he received both Low Altitude and Air Combat Instructor qualifications and served as the Pilot Training Officer. 
 
In August 2014, Capt Truog received orders back to Marine Attack Training Squadron 203 as an Instructor Pilot.  While at VMAT-203, he served as the Instructor Pilot Training Officer, the Powerline Division Officer, and the Air-to-Air Department Head. In July 2016, he was selected through the Personnel Exchange Program to represent the Harrier community as the AV-8B Exchange Pilot for the Spanish Navy. 
 
In December 2016, Major Truog reported to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, to complete the Spanish Linguist course. Upon graduation in October 2017, Major Truog moved to Rota, Spain, and checked into the 9th Squadron, Spanish Navy as the USMC Harrier Exchange Pilot.  While assigned to the Spanish Navy, Major Truog participated in numerous NATO exercises operating from the Spanish Flagship the Juan Carlos I. He served the squadron as the Assistant Operations Officer and the Director of Tactics and Training while abroad. Upon completion of his tour, Major Truog was assigned the secondary MOS 8247 Foreign Affairs Officer for Western Europe.
 
Upon return from Spain in December 2020, Major Truog received orders back to MAG-14 and was assigned as the Executive Officer of Marine Attack Squadron 223. While serving as the Executive Officer, Major Truog went on five deployments for training including Cold Response 22 in Bodo, Norway and earned his Mission Commander designation. In 2021, Major Truog was hand selected as Lead planner and Action Officer overseeing the VMA-223/VMAT-203 consolidation and was instrumental in a successful first year operation in FY22 with VMA-223 flying over 5000 flight hours and helping AV-8B FRD produce ten CAT I USMC pilots.  
In September 2022, Lieutenant Colonel Truog was designated as the Officer-in-Charge of the AV-8B Fleet Replacement Detachment. LtCol Truog was directly responsible for the training of all new AV-8B pilots arriving from the CNATRA Strike/Fighter pipeline, AV-8B refresher pilots, and instructor pilots, in the safe employment of the AV-8B Harrier.  
 
Lieutenant Colonel Truog has accumulated over 1900 hours in the AV-8B Harrier.  His decorations include (3) Strike/Flight Awards, (2) Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and (2) Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals.