From 1957 to 1958, he was in the U.S. Army, first in the U.S. Army Reserve in Fort Jackson, S.C. and then at the U.S. Army Information School in Fort Slocum, N.Y. McElheny has contributed many articles on science to newspapers and magazines and has been a journalist employed by "The Charlotte Observer", "Science" magazine, "The Boston Globe", and "The New York Times".