McCabe enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2000, where he is a photojournalist with the combat historian designator with the rank of sergeant. He is a graduate of the photojournalism program at the Defense Information School and the Army’s combat historian course.

Prior to enlisting in the Army Reserve, he spent eight years on active-duty in the Coast Guard.

Before writing for The Pilot, he was owner and editor of The Alewife, a monthly newspaper covering the neighborhood of North Cambridge from 2005 to 2007. He was the editor of The Somerville News, from 2003 until 2005.

A lifelong lover of history, McCabe is also currently working on a biography of Lt. Col. Charles W. Whittlesey, the commander of the Lost Battalion, who received the first Medal of Honor in World War I. In October, he visited the “The Pocket” in the Argonne Forest in France, to research where Whittlesey and his men were trapped by the Germans for six days.

“I am feeling pretty good about this adventure. I did not ask for it, but I welcome the chance to serve,” he continued. “So many others have held up this burden while I watched from the sidelines. It is validating to be told your country needs you and believes you can complete the mission.”