Matt has served more than 20 years in emergency services in full-time, part-time and volunteer roles. This includes seven years as the full-time paid chief of training and special operations for a large urban fire department and 10 years on a Type II Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) team.He has coordinated numerous full-scale cross-functional exercises, tabletops and leadership/teamwork development workshops in accordance with Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) standards. These included hurricane, earthquake, active threat and complex coordinated attack response and required cooperation with multiple local, state and federal agencies.His extensive emergency management experience includes serving as a Liaison Officer, Agency Representative and Fire/Rescue/Hazmat Coordinator (ESF 4, 9 & 10) for multiple real-world events to include hurricanes, floods and civil unrest. He also currently serves as a Fusion Liaison/Intelligence Officer in the South Carolina Information & Intelligence Center.An instructor since 2004, Matt currently serves as an Education Specialist for the South Carolina State Fire Academy where he revises and develops statewide curriculum to include firefighter survival, officer development and incident command.He serves as a Maritime (Law) Enforcement Specialist in the US Coast Guard Reserve where he has been a squad leader in an expeditionary anti-terrorism/force protection unit and was previously a boarding officer conducting law enforcement boarding of recreational, commercial and high-interest vessels. He currently provides basic law enforcement, use of force and tactical medical training and is certified as a Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC), Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) and ALERRT Level 1 (Active Shooter Response) Instructor.As a former high-level athlete, and by invitation, Matt trained at an international athletic development center, was a Division 1 college athlete and previously competed in the Firefighter Combat Challenge. He is a certified personal fitness trainer and has been programming and training civilians and firefighter recruits since 2007. He has presented at the national level to include the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) and the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Conference on the topics of strategic & tactical decision making, resilience and organizational leadership. He has degrees in business and occupational health & safety and is a graduate student in Homeland Security & Disaster Management.