Lieutenant Colonel Paulin is from Olivenhain, a suburb of San Diego, California. He graduated from University of Colorado in May 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. Immediately following graduation, he returned home to San Diego where he got a job as an engineer for Cubic Defense Applications.

Major Paulin received a flight contract and was sent to OCS in January of 2006. He accepted his commission as a Second Lieutenant and reported to The Basic School (TBS). Upon completing TBS, he was sent to Naval Test Pilot School while waiting to start Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API). After three months of PTAD in Patuxent River, he reported to NAS Pensacola, Florida to commence his flight training. 

While in Pensacola, then 2ndLt Paulin completed the 6-week API course and then transferred to NAS Corpus Christi to begin the flying portion of his training. During this time, he was attached to VT-28 Rangers where he learned basic flying skills in the T-34C Turbo Mentor. Upon completion of primary flight training, he was selected for jets and transferred to NAS Kingsville where he was promoted to First Lieutenant. Here, he was attached to VT-21 Redhawks to continue his advanced flight training in the T-45A Goshawk and was designated a Naval Aviator in April 2009. 

Following his flight training, 1stLt Paulin attended SERE school. After this 2-week course, he reported to VMFAT-101 Sharpshooters at MCAS Miramar, California for training in the F/A-18 Hornet.  In March 2010, 1stLt Paulin was promoted to Captain and in August he completed his training with VMFAT-101. 

Capt Paulin reported to his first fleet squadron, VMFA-112 Cowboys, to start working on a combat wingman qualification while he awaited the return of VMFA-232 from Afghanistan. He stayed at NAS JRB Fort Worth, Texas until January 2011 at which time he returned to MCAS Miramar to join VMFA-232 Red Devils. During Capt Paulin’s two years with the Red Devils, he deployed to Iwakuni, Japan for a UDP and earned a Section Lead qualification. While on UDP with the Red Devils, he participated in a multitude of bilateral theater cooperation exercises in Australia, Guam, and South Korea. Capt Paulin served as the Embark Officer, S-6 Officer, S-4 Officer, and Powerline Officer during his tenure with VMFA-232.

In March 2013, Capt Paulin attended Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) School at EWTGPAC in Coronado, California and was designated a Forward Air Controller (FAC). He then checked into 7^th Marines in 29 Palms, California and deployed to Afghanistan in April to act as an Air Officer for the last half of the Regiment’s deployment at Camp Leatherneck in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). Upon returning in September, Capt Paulin joined 2^nd Battalion, 7^th Marines to serve as their Air Officer. He also took on the role of Assistant Operations Officer and served in both positions until he moved back to Miramar to complete a CAT IV refresh syllabus in the F/A-18 in April 2014.

In July 2014, Capt Paulin moved to Iwakuni, Japan to join VMFA(AW)-242 Bats for his second fleet tour. During his time with the Bats, Capt Paulin deployed to Alaska, Australia, Guam, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, and multiple locations throughout Japan many times where he was involved in several more bilateral theater cooperation exercises. While he was with VMFA(AW)-242, Capt Paulin was sent to Aviation Safety Officer School, Crew Resource Management Course, and Aviation Maintenance Officer Course all while earning his Division Lead, Forward Air Controller Airbourne (FAC(A)), and Mission Commander qualifications. He served as the NATOPS Officer, Aviation Safety Officer (ASO), and Assistant Aviation Maintenance Officer (AAMO). Over the summer of 2016, Capt Paulin was sent on an Individual Augmentation (IA) to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar to serve as a MARLO watch officer for 6 months. Upon returning to the squadron, Capt Paulin was promoted to Major in May 2017.

Maj Paulin moved back to the US in September 2017 to join VMFAT-101 as an instructor pilot teaching the next generation of Marine F/A-18 pilots. During his time as a Sharpshooter instructor, Maj Paulin served as a Scheduling Officer, Air-to-Ground Phase Head, and ASO. Here, he earned a Low Altitude Tactics Instructor (LAT-I) qualification and was also dual qualified as a T-34C pilot. In January 2021, he ended his Active-Duty service and joined the Squadron Augmentation Unit (SAU) at VMFAT-101 to continue supporting the pilot production mission as a dedicated Select Marine Corps Reservist. In May 2022, Maj Paulin Joined VMFA-112 where he is currently erving as the Executive Officer. Lieutenant Colonel was promoted to his current rank on February 1^st of 2024.

After leaving Active Duty, Lieutenant Colonel Paulin was hired by FedEx, where he currently serves as a First Officer flying the Boeing 757, based out of Memphis, Tennessee. He has accumulated more than 3,300 total flight hours and more than 2,000 in the F/A-18A-D.