Today our ride was dedicated in honor of:
Navy GM1 Matthew John Austin, Age 26 of Smithfield, NC.
Died June 30, 2019
Born on May 22,1993 in Johnston County, NC to Michael & Angela Austin. He has a younger brother, Zack Austin & a 11 yr old son Landon Austin. He loved sports, fishing, hunting & NC State. Matthew played football, baseball & basketball. He was also in the Boy Scouts. His middle school football team went undefeated. Matthew was always a high achiever in anything he done. He got accepted into the Duke TIP program at an early age during his elementary years. He had the chance to skip high school & go into early college, however I felt he would miss out on so much by skipping high school. I encouraged him not to do early college. As a senior he had Landon, he was matthews entire world. His father & I encouraged him to either go to college (he was accepted in every college from coast to coast) or to join the military to support his family. Ge chose the USN as his career. We were extremely proud of him. He reported to basic at Great Lakes chicago IL on Dec 5,2013. In March 2014 he was assigned to the USS PORTER (DDG-78) forwarded deployed to Rota Spain, as an undesignated seaman working in the deck department. Upon receiving GM, Matthew oversaw all of the ships small arms as the armory work center supervisor. He was responsible for over 80,000 rounds of ammo & pyrotechnics. He conducted several ballistic missile defense missions supporting Europe command & Israel. He was the primary MK-32 surface vessel torpedo tube mount captain & became a line coach, where he qualified over 200 sailors in weapons manipulation & firing effectiveness. While aboard the USS PORTER, Matthew received his first & second navy & marine corps achievement medals, qualified as an enlisted surface warfare specialist & received multiply qualifications. He was also in charge of the maintenance torpedo launching system. He manned a M240 & a 50 caliber machine gun. On September 28 the USS PORTER departed from Vlore, Albania. While on patrol conducting naval operations in the US 6th fleet in support of the US national security interest in Europe. On April 7, 2017 in the Mediterranean Sea Syria carried out a strike, in response the USS PORTER was involved in the attack & fires tomahawk missiles. The USS Ross assisted the USS PORTER in the attack. Syrias aircraft & infrastructure were hit, including the runway & gas fuel pumps. The airfield was severely damaged, reducing Syrias capability to deliver chemical weapons as planned. On August 15,2017 Matthew reported to special boat team 20 (SBT-20) as a naval special warfare armorer technician. He received his duty armorer ordinance quality assurance safety observer & his expeditionary warfare specialist qualifications within his first 6 months. He was also the work center supervisor for the weapons department & provided ordnance demolition driver training (Demo) & certified personnel as a NSW DEMO drivers. He demonstrated his exceptional craft for weapons by developing a repair method for the 50 caliber machine guns. Prior to innovation, these weapons were designated as “beyond repair” & were slated to be returned to naval special warfare command crane for repair. Matthew took initiative by identifying the problem, creating a process to repair the weapons by utilizing parts from older 50 caliber machine guns. He provided NSWC with a detailed presentation & instructions on how to implement his solution. NSWC crane confirmed his assessment & found his solution to be of significant value. They disseminated his presentation to every armory. The USN stated there is no way to calculate the savings, Matthew attributed for initiative & determination used to identify & correct the weapons. His actions saved on repair turnaround time, minimized lost training time & ensured this weapon system has more time on target availability. He was directly responsible for correcting 38 out of 500 known discrepancies, which could have been a substantial amount. The estimate of savings just to ship the machine guns back was $43,150 & roughly 6 months of repair time, preventing training. While stationed at SPT-20 he received his first navy & marine corps commendation medal & was posthumously advanced to first class Petty officer in June 2019. He received several awards & ribbons including Navy “E” ribbon, good conduct metal, national defense service medal, global war on terrorism expeditionary medal, sea service development ribbon, navy & marine corps overseas service ribbon, North Atlantic treaty organization medal, rifle marksman ribbon & the pistol marksman ribbon (EXPERT) & many more. Matthew was active aboard SBT-20 when he gained his angel wings on June 30, 2019. Where he was well liked & dedicated to honor his country & the naval service by the work he preformed throughout his naval career. His distinct personality & expertise made an immediate impact on those who meet him. He quickly gained friendships of peers & subordinates alike & had a reputation as one of the finest petty officers in the command. He had a smile that always lite up any room & a huge caring heart. He always showed kindness & respect to all. He loved his job & son very much. He had 2 tattoos, 1 of the GM symbol & the other was his sons name Landon. He is missed & loved by so many!
We had a great 23.86 Mile ride this morning. Our first stop was at the Homestead House Museum. What a beautiful area. We then rode into the Cumberland Mountain State Park where we got to see some wildlife. The lake was beautiful. After riding in the park a little we then headed back towards town and we made a stop at the War Memorial Park. We read some names on the Memorial Wall and then we rode in The Gardens where we enjoyed the views of the ponds and trees. We then headed back to the house. I want to thank everyone who honked, waved, and saluted in helping us honor this hero. We had 22 honks today. It was amazing. Thank you.
Navy GM1 Matthew John Austin will not be forgotten
