Mr. Matthew T. Metschke is a Mortuary Affairs Specialist at the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Mr. Metschke’s primary duties are Branch Chief of the Mortuary Affairs Case Management Branch.

Responsible for three personnel that help Air Force Installations serve families of the fallen. This includes 24/7 support, training, search and recovery and serving as a liaison to families of fallen Airmen arriving at Dover AFB for a dignified transfer.

Additionally, he supports the port mortuary with embalming, restoration, casketing and return of fallen service members to their families. Mr. Metschke serves as liaison support to the Past Conflicts Branch providing care, service and support to the families of Airmen who remain Missing in Action or Killed in Action, as well as educating and training mortuary officers and technicians.

Since his arrival to Dover, he has participated in the preparation and return of fallen service members from four mass fatalities. Mr. Metschke most recently participated in

recovery operations supporting Operation Colony Glacier, a search and recovery mission for an operational loss that occurred in 1952 in Alaska that resulted in the loss of 52 service members killed when the C-124 aircraft they were in crashed into Mount Gannett.

In his role as a mortuary specialist, he’s also served as the lead in the departures section, the last stop where the fallen are casketed before departing the mortuary facility for their final resting place. It is here that he and the team in the port mortuary provide oversight to ensure quality assurance measures are executed in the dignified return of fallen service members.

Prior to this assignment, Mr. Metschke served as Air Force Regional Mortuary Director at Yokota Air Base, Japan serving Pacific Air Forces and the entire Pacific Region providing mortuary entitlements, installation mortuary affairs support and training to Department of Defense agencies in the Pacific region.

Mr. Metschke started his service to the government as a soldier in the Army for 4 years where he served as a Mortuary Affairs Specialist 92M. During that time, he deployed with the 54th Quartermaster Company, Fort Lee, Virginia, to Washington D.C on the night of the attack at the Pentagon Sept. 11, 2001, to assist in recovery of those who died because of the incident.

EDUCATION

2006 Associate of Applied Science, Funeral Services, John Tyler Community College, Chester, Va.

2013 - 2014 Intern, National Cemetery Administration, Director Intern Program, St. Louis, Mo. 2017 U.S. Air Force Mortuary Officer Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

2017 U.S. Air Force Supervisory Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

2018 Fountain National Academy, 4D Advanced Post-Mortem Reconstructive Surgery, Springfield, Mo. 2019 Fountain National Academy, 4D Advanced II Post-Mortem Reconstructive Surgery, Springfield, Mo. 2019 U.S. Army Mortuary Affairs Officer Course “4V,” Fort Lee, Va.

2021 U.S. Air Force Basic Instructor Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

2022 Basic Mountain Operator Course, Colorado Mountain School, Estes Park, Colo.

CAREER CHRONOLOGY

1.1997 - 2000, Funeral Director Assistant, SCI Omaha, Neb. 2.1997-2000, Moser Memorial Chapel, Fremont, Neb.

• 3.  2001 - 2005, Mortuary Affairs Specialist, United States Army, Fort Lee, Va.
• 4.  2004 - 2006, Funeral Director Assistant/Intern, E. Alvin Small Funeral Home, Colonial Heights Va.
• 5.  2006 - 2008, Intern/Licensed Funeral Director, Jacobs Funeral Homes, Iron Mountain, Mich.
• 6.  2008 - 2010, Funeral Service Licensee, Cremation Society of Virginia, Richmond, Va.
• 7.  2010 - 2011, Director of Advanced Planning, Murphy Funeral Homes, Arlington and Falls Church, Va.
• 8.  2011 - 2013, Instructor Writer/Training Support Specialist, Cubic Applications Inc., Fort Lee, Va.
• 9.  2013 - 2014, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration Cemetery Director Intern Program, St. Louis, Mo.
• 10.  2014 - 2017, Cemetery Administrator, Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery, Seville, Ohio
• 11.  2017 - 2021, USAF Regional Mortuary Director, Yokota Air Base, Japan
• 12.  2021 - present, Mortuary Affairs Specialist, Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, Dover AFB, Del.

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

Michigan Intern License, 2006

Wisconsin Funeral Director/Embalmer, 2007

Funeral Service Provider, State of Virginia, Valid since 2006 Member of British Institute of Embalmers, 2020

CFSP, 2025

ASSOCIATIONS

NFDA

American Legion

Member British Institute of Embalmers VFDA

APFSP