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Brigadier General Mark T. Matthews:Military Branch:United States Airforce | |
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Selected for reassignment as Commander, Air Force Institute of Technology, Air University, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Brig. Gen. Mark T. Matthews is Commander, 48th Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England. He is responsible for the Air Force?s Statue of Liberty Wing, which has both a numerical designation and an official name. The Liberty Wing consists of approximately 6,000 active-duty military members, 3,000 British, Icelandic and U.S. civilians, and includes geographically separated units at nearby RAF Feltwell as well as Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland. In addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft at RAF Lakenheath, the wing's 85th Group forms the air component of the Icelandic Defense Force through assimilation of expeditionary forces as well as permanent party personnel employing in-place HH-60s and rotational F-15A/Cs. General Matthews was born in Raleigh, N.C., graduating from Garner High School, N.C., in 1973. He entered the Air Force in 1977 with a commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy, earning a bachelor of science degree in engineering sciences as an honor graduate. A distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force F-15 Fighter Weapons School, General Matthews was a member of the initial cadre to stand-up F-15s in Alaska before attending graduate school and his assignment to Headquarters U.S. Air Force. As a member of the Checkmate Division, General Matthews was one of the authors of Rapid Thunder, the initial planning effort that evolved into the Desert Storm air campaign against Iraq. He later served as operations officer and Commander of the 435th Fighter Squadron, training pilots of the Taiwan air force before attending Air War College in 1996. General Matthews was the 607th Air Operations Group Commander and the U.S. Director of Operations for the U.S. Air Force, South Korea, before his assignment to the Joint Staff as the Assistant Deputy Director for Global Operations and its acting Director during Operation Enduring Freedom. Before assuming his current position, the general was Deputy Director for Operational Plans and Joint Matters, Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. EDUCATION 1977 Bachelor of science degree in engineering sciences, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. 1982 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. 1987 Air Command and Staff College 1987 Master of science degree in operations research, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. 1997 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 2001 Seminar XXI - Foreign Political and International Relations, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge ASSIGNMENTS 1. September 1977 - August 1978, student, undergraduate piot training, Vance AFB, Okla. 2. January 1979 - July 1982, F-15A/C aircraft commander, 94th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Langley AFB, Va. 3. July 1982 - January 1983, F-15A instructor pilot, 43rd TFS, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska 4. January 1983 - June 1983, F-15A student, U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nev. 5. June 1983 - August 1984, Chief, F-15A Weapons and Tactics, 43rd TFS, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska 6. September 1984 - August 1985, Chief, F-15A Weapons and Tactics, 21st Tactical Fighter Wing, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska 7. September 1985 - January 1987, graduate student, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. 8. February 1987 - October 1987, plans and programs research systems analyst, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 9. November 1987 - April 1992, air-to-air capabilities and war strategies analyst, Checkmate Division, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 10. April 1992 - August 1993, AT-38B instructor, 435th Fighter Squadron, later, Chief of Safety, 49th Fighter Wing, Holloman AFB, N.M. 11. August 1993 - June 1996, operations officer, later, Commander, 435th Fighter Squadron, Holloman AFB, N.M. 12. July 1996 - May 1997, student, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 13. June 1997 - June 1999, Deputy Commander, later, Commander, 607th Air Operations Group, Osan Air Base, South Korea 14. June 1999 - May 2002, Assistant Deputy Director for Global Operations, Joint Staff, Washington D.C. 15. June 2002 - July 2003, Deputy Director for Operational Plans and Joint Matters, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 16. August 2003 - present, Commander, 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath, England FLIGHT INFORMATION Rating: Command pilot Flight hours: 2,300 hours Aircraft flown: T-37, T-38, F-15A/C, AT-38B, F-16C and F-15E MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS Defense Superior Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters Air Force Commendation Medal Combat Readiness Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Korea Defense Service Medal EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION Second Lieutenant June 1, 1977 First Lieutenant June 1, 1979 Captain June 1, 1981 Major Feb. 1, 1988 Lieutenant Colonel April 1, 1992 Colonel Dec. 1, 1997 Brigadier General Oct. 1, 2003 |
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