Speakers

Col. Matthew M. Groves is the 136th Airlift Wing Commander, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. He leads a fully operational combat unit that also supports the Texas Air National Guard Band of the Southwest and the 254th Combat Communications Group. The wing is responsible for organizing, equipping, and training personnel for worldwide deployment by providing combatant commanders with combat-ready forces, while supporting Air Mobility Command’s airlift requirements with eight assigned C-130J aircraft. The wing also provides ready forces to the Governor and Texas Military Department to aid in domestic disaster response and homeland defense.

Colonel Groves entered the Air Force in 1999 through Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. He has extensive involvement with joint and interagency counterdrug operations and expertise in the United States Southern Command area of operations. Colonel Groves has commanded aircrews on combat missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkans region as well as domestic humanitarian missions. He served as Commander of the 385th Air Expeditionary Group, the 123d Operations Support Squadron and the 123d Global Mobility Readiness Squadron, and led multinational Ebola relief operations in Dakar, Senegal. He has extensive legislative expertise, serving as a Congressional Fellow and Legislative Liaison for both the Air Force and Office of the Secretary of Defense. Prior to his current position, the colonel was the Vice Wing Commander, 136th Airlift Wing, NAS JRB Fort Worth, Texas.