FREDERICK L. MCKINNEY
Durham, NC
Class of 1962

Unlike the majority of his classmates, Fred McKinney survived at home in “civilian” life until the end of his junior year in high school, before his folks decided he “needed discipline” and shipped him out to Oak Ridge Military Institute

Living the high life at Durham High School from 1959 to 1961, Fred admits to his traumatic transition as a first-year cadet at “The Ridge.” He is remembered fondly by his classmates as “smart” (Dean’s List and Military Honor Roll) and generally retiring.

He was assigned to Band Company and vividly remembers getting “racked” unmercifully by Cadet Lieutenant Whit Ruark, the company’s executive officer.

He graduated with his class in 1962 and was accepted by North Carolina State University. He spent the next four years in Raleigh at State, and finishing in May of 1966, he joined the Navy. (There were no choices in those days other than which service you wanted; the draft was still in effect.)

Fred signed on for a three-year hitch with the Navy Seabees, knowing full well that he was headed for beautiful Southeast Asia on an all-expense-paid tour . . . where most of his buddies from “The Ridge” were headed also.

At the end of his Vietnam tour, McKinney returned to the Seabees base at Gulfport, Mississippi, and for the next two years, was an instructor in weapons and improvised anti-personnel devices.

Fred left the service in 1969, and for the next 22 years, worked for the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Starting his law enforcement career as a Field Agent, he handled general criminal cases before specializing in drugs, which sent him undercover. For about 9 years, Fred was assigned to the SBI Smuggling Unit in the eastern section of the state. Later, he was part of a task force the SBI formed with US Customs and DEA before being promoted to Field Supervisor in Wilmington.

It was during this time period that Fred ran into Special Agent Whit Ruark of the IRS, the same Ruark who, as a cadet officer, made McKinney’s life . . . well, exciting. (Ruark denies it, claming only sweetness and light.)

In 1994, Fred was promoted again to Special Agent in Charge (SAC), the Top Cop for the southeastern part of the state, based in Fayetteville. In 1996, his marriage ended, and his family remained in Wilmington; the commute was just too much of a strain. He retired from the SBI in 1999 and immediately opened an investigation company, Southeastern Investigations. He has homes in both Fayetteville and Wilmington, but plans to move his operations to the latter in time.

In his leisure time, Fred enjoys sports car racing and taking week trips to Charleston and New Orleans. While originally from Durham, he is a man who has certainly acquired sand in his topsiders.