Matthew Elias

Matthew Elias served just over twenty years in the Navy, retiring as a Commander and was an active contributor in winning what many people call World War III, the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Following graduation and commissioning as an Ensign from the U.S. Naval Academy, Matthew attended flight school and was assigned to fly the
P-3 Orion in Brunswick Maine. The P-3 Orion's main mission is to detect and track submarines, and detecting and tracking Soviet submarines was one of the critical cat and mouse games played throughout the Cold War. It was a high stakes game played throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as far away as the Soviet coastlines and as close as the United States coastlines. While in Brunswick, Matthew deployed twice to Keflavik, Iceland, for six months each time. While there, he would fly into the North Sea to chase Soviet subs as they left their home waters. He also flew out of bases in Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, the Azores and Bermuda to go where Soviet subs operated. While flying against a Soviet submarine off Bermuda, the Soviet sub had a major engineering problem and surfaced while being tracked by Matthew's crew. The sub stayed on the surface for several days and in the first hours on the surface while Matthew's crew was still on station, another P-3 came out and videoed his aircraft flying by the sub. That video was all over the national news the next night but you have to take his word that he's in the airplane in the video.

Upon completion of the tour in Brunswick, Matthew and his family were assigned as an exchange officer to the Royal Air Force flying the Nimrod aircraft. The Nimrod has the same mission as the P-3 and he spent three more years chasing Soviet submarines in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. After attending training with the RAF in Yorkshire and Cornwall, England, he was assigned to 206 SQUADRON at RAF Kinloss, Scotland. Deployments were much shorter than deployments in the U.S. Navy and new deployment sites included Gibraltar, Cyprus and Oman.

In January 1987, Matthew and his family switched sides of the globe and reported to the aircraft carrier USS MIDWAY homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, for two and a half years. Flying opportunities were limited and his main duties were as a member of ship's company. Deployments included six months in the Indian Ocean during the Iran- Iraq war protecting oil tankers from attack. Shorter three-month deployments included Australia, numerous times to the Philippines and several times to South Korea including the 1988 Olympics when the MIDWAY served as a deterrent to any disruption of the Olympics by North Korea. Of the 29 months on the MIDWAY, he was gone for 20 of them, including the month our second daughter Sarah was born.

Upon returning to the United States from Japan, Matthew was assigned back to the P-3 in Jacksonville, Florida. During this assignment, Matthew made six-month deployments to Sigonella, Sicily and Keflavik, Iceland as the Cold War ended.

Following this tour, Matthew reported to the Pentagon, for what turned out to be a pretty good tour. At the Pentagon, he served as the Chief of Naval Operations' political-military policy advisor on the Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia interacting with the Joint Staff, the office of Secretary of Defense and the embassies of those nations. While assigned there, he also participated in the 1992 Presidential Inauguration as the Military Escort to a participating dignitary and saw the inauguration behind the scenes and up close. During this tour, Matthew was selected to study at Harvard University under the U.S. Navy's Advanced Education Program and earned a Master in Public Administration with a dual concentration in International Policy and Institutions and Strategic Management.


Following graduate school, Matthew reported to the Navy Recruiting District in Dallas, Texas as the Commanding Officer. After completing a three-year tour, Matthew decided to retire and settle in Dallas. During the twenty years of service, Matthew flew over 4,200 hours, moved twelve times, was deployed away from his family for over four years and missed five Christmases. His personal awards include two Meritorious Service Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals, a Navy Achievement Medal, Navy Expert Pistol Medal, and numerous general and unit awards.