Matthew West on Electromagnetic Threats and Disasters

Matthew West began his career as a peace officer in 2000 and has transitioned into risk management in 2018. Matthew received his B.A. in American Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2002 and received his M.A. in Homeland Security (with honors) from American Military University in 2013. He holds a Master Peace Officer certification for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and is a TCOLE certified instructor.

Matthew has spent most of his career working in specialized law enforcement roles. In 2004, he was stationed along the U.S./Mexico border where he worked as a state police officer for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), working with various local, state, and federal partners investigating a variety of criminal activity. In 2008, Matt went to work for the Union Pacific Railroad Police as a Special Agent. During his 8 ½ years with Union Pacific, he served as a K9 handler, field training officer, assigned to executive protection details, and was the San Antonio Division training officer, specializing in firearms, defensive tactics, and patrol techniques. Matt was awarded the Union Pacific Lifesaver Award.

Matthew has been part of numerous disaster responses as a first responder, to include Hurricanes Rita and Ike. During his deployment, Matthew began to realize the lack of preparedness and vulnerabilities communities lacked, as well as those shortfalls for those responding to these events. His experiences is what guided him toward his graduate studies in Homeland Security and writing his thesis on the vulnerability of an EMP event on the U.S. power grid. Matthew is also a Boy Scout leader and amateur radio operator.