Sergeant McAtee was born and brought up in the picturesque town of Kilsyth 12 miles north east of Glasgow. He was recruited in Stirling and joined the army in 1989 enlisting at the Royal Armoured Corps training centre at Cambrai Barracks, Catterick.

On completion of his training as a Chieftain tank driver he was posted to the 4th Royal Tank Regiment in Osnabruck, Germany.

During his time with the forth he completed his tank training on the Chieftain Main Battle Tank (MBT), and also completed exercises in Southern Germany and Canada. On amalgamation of the First and Fourth Royal Tank Regiments he was posted to Alliwal Barracks, Tidworth.

After completing a Non-Commissioned Officer's (NCO) Cadre he was posted to Reconnaissance Troop were he re-trained as a CVRT crewman on the Scimitar reconnaissance vehicle and attended a conversion course for the Challenger I MBT, again during his time in Tidworth he had the opportunity to train in Canada, Poland and took part in a mountaineering expedition to New Zealand.

In Late 1996 the regiment was arms plotted to Paderborn in Germany, during this time then Lcpl Mcatee had the opportunity to be employed as a section 2IC as part of the United Nations peace keeping force in Cyprus. Whilst in Cyprus he had the opportunity to take part in a number of different adventure training activities such as canoeing, windsurfing, sub aqua diving and rock climbing.

In 1999 Lcpl McAtee was promoted to Corporal and posted to the Army Foundation College (AFC) in Harrogate where he was employed as a Recruit Instructor. During his time at the AFC he gained qualifications such as Small Arms Instructor (SAAI), CBRNI and  Map Reading Instructor (MAPRIC).

On return from the AFC he was posted to the Land Warfare Centre Armoured Squadron at Harmin Lines, Warminster as a Recce Troop Corporal. Soon after he was selected to attend the Recce Crew Commanders course, and a CVRT RAC Gunnery Instructors course.

During his time in Warminster he had the opportunity to deploy on a large number of varied exercises.
 
Sgt McAtee has been deployed to a variety of operational theatres and has been employed in a number of different roles. These include two peace keeping tours in Cyprus, a six month tour as a rifleman in Northern Ireland and Operation Telic 10 as a CBRN Light Role Team Commander.

He currently holds the General Service Medal (GSM) (NI), two United Nations medals for peacekeeping, GSM Op Telic, Queens's Jubilee, and the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (LSGC).

Sgt Mcatee is currently serving at the CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Team) Regiment at RAF Honington were he is employed in 6 Troop, D Sqn as an LRT Commander.