Matt was born in Ohio, moving to Arizona when he was 2. Matt grew up in the Phoenix area with his parents and two brothers. While in high school Matt met his wife, Maria and they dated briefly. After spending some time in college, they both enlisted in the Army and served on active duty at separate duty stations. They later rekindled their relationship and have been happily married for 22 years and have three boys, Tyler, Ryan and Nathan. The boys are all currently attending college. Maria served for roughly three years before terminating her service to care for their oldest child, Tyler.
Matt enlisted in the Army in 1998 as an Airborne Combat Engineer and spent 13 years on active duty serving in various locations across the globe. As a paratrooper, Matt had the unique opportunity to conduct airborne operations into six different countries, including a reenactment jump to commemorate D Day for the 60th Anniversary in St Mere Eglise, France in 2004. In 2003 he jumped into Iraq at the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 173rd Airborne Brigade out of Italy. During his career he was stationed at Fort Bragg, Korea, Italy and Fort Riley. He served two short rotations to Kosovo, one deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and one deployment to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom.
In 2007, Matt served in Afghanistan as a Platoon Sergeant of a Combat Engineer Unit performing route clearance operations searching for and destroying Improvised Explosive Devices placed by enemy forces. On October 13, 2007, the vehicle he was commanding struck an IED that tore through the bottom of their vehicle. Fortunately, all the occupants in the vehicle survived the attack and are doing well today despite many injuries to all three men. SFC Miles’ injuries include a left leg amputation through-the-knee, multiple right ankle fractures, multiple left-hand fractures and dislocations, facial and throat injuries that included a broken hyoid bone, eye shrapnel, partially detached retina and a mild brain injury. In total Matt has had approximately 25 surgeries and years of rehabilitation that concluded with a medical retirement from the Army in 2011.
Matt credits the success of his rehabilitation to Maria and their boys, friends, family, various veteran organizations, volunteers and medical professionals. The years of support leading up to his separation from the Army allowed him to focus on healing and the inevitable separation from military service. Preparing to leave the Army was a stressful time that was made much easier with the constant support. Transitioning from a military family back to civilian life was one that presented both challenges and opportunities. Matt is grateful for the support from so many along the way.
Since leaving the Army, Matt graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Real Estate Finance and Development that allowed him to begin a new career as a Commercial Relationship Manager for the largest privately held bank in the country.
Matt has volunteered in the veteran community as a peer mentor with the Wounded Warrior Project and a peer visitor for the Amputee Coalition since 2010. Additionally, Matt supports his alma mater by providing mentorship and professional advice to students pursuing real estate finance and development degrees.
