Following his graduation from what is now Virginia Commonwealth University, George joined the Air Force. He served in Korea during the war there and later in Europe. He was stationed in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations in Washington when he retired in 1971 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

He then returned to Kents Store and began a career in journalism. In the early 1970s he started a column that appeared in the Charlottesville Daily Progress and 24 other newspapers in Virginia. From 1973 to 1977 he also was editorial page editor of the Daily Progress.