Later on in his early adult years he didn’t know what he wanted to do in life, he turned to drugs and alcohol while working in the adult entertainment industry. Paul got into a big fight and got beaten up which prompted him to think to himself, “if I don't change I'm going to be dead by 23.’’ So he called his mum for advice and she said to call his brothers who were in the army. That led Paul to join the army in the year 2000.

Paul joined the army first as a paratrooper for 4 years and was deployed to East Timor as part of the peacekeeping force. In 2005 he applied to become a navy clearance diver (bomb disposal diver). There was a gruelling selection process that Paul describes as mental and emotional hell where, according to Paul, 70% of applicants quit in the first few days.

On 11th February 2009, Paul was doing an anti-terrorism exercise in Sydney Harbour and was attacked by a nine-foot bull shark. He was rescued by his three mates who were part of the same training exercise on a dinghy nearby. Paul used 300 donations worth of blood during the emergency procedure and was put in an induced coma. Paul still had his leg after one week, but the doctor said if he kept the leg he would limp for the rest of his life, so Paul said “Doc turn me into a terminator.’’

After The initial 9 week recovery in the hospital, he continued his career in the navy instructing divers for a further three and a half years and then resigned.