Col Matthew G. Kelly, USMC V-22 Osprey Joint Program Manager Patuxent River, MD

Colonel Kelly serves as the joint program manager for the V-22 Osprey at the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD. Colonel Kelly graduated with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1993 with a B.S. in control systems engineering. Upon graduation, he was awarded a Dean’s Fellowship from the University of Virginia, completing an M.S. in electrical engineering the following year. Col Kelly was the Honor Graduate from USMC Basic School class 1-95 and was designated a Naval Aviator in May of 1997, selecting the F/A-18 Hornet. Upon completion of F/A-18 training, Col Kelly was assigned to VMFA(AW)-224 in Beaufort, SC where he deployed to the Western Pacific in 1999 including Japan, South Korea, Australia and Thailand flying in multinational exercise Cobra Gold in 1999. In 2001 Col Kelly deployed again to the Western Pacific including Japan, Papua New Guinea, Saipan, Guam and after Sept 11, deployed to the Philippines as part of Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines (OEF-P) combating Islamic terror groups in the southern Philippine islands. Following this tour, Col Kelly attended U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, in Patuxent River, MD graduating in December 2002. He was then assigned to VX-23 where he served as the F/A-18 lead test pilot and Operations Officer. While assigned to VX-23, he won the Captain Steven Hazelrigg Memorial Flight Test Award, completed an M.S. in systems engineering with Honors from Johns Hopkins University, and was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate finalist. In 2008, Col Kelly was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group-16 (Forward) in Al Asad, Anbar Province, Iraq, flying combat missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In 2009 Col Kelly was assigned to the F-35 Integrated Test Force at VX-23, where he served as the Flight Operations Lead and Government Flight Test Director. Col Kelly led a 900 person team composed of personnel from two U.S. Services, the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, six industry partners and civil servants through the execution of 1,700 flights and more than 2,400 hours of mishap-free high-risk flight test on eleven unique test aircraft. For his leadership on the F-35 program Col Kelly was selected as the 2010 Marine Corps Aviation Association Test Pilot of the Year, received the 2010 Commandant’s Acquisition Excellence Award and was named the 2012 National Defense Industrial Association USMC Tester of the Year. In 2014 Col Kelly was assigned as the Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research Development and Acquisition). During this tour, Col Kelly was selected to command the Marine Aviation Detachment for Patuxent River, China Lake and Pt. Mugu and assumed command in July 2016. In July 2017 Col Kelly assumed command of the V-22 Osprey Joint Program Office where he leads the production, development and sustainment of the V-22 Osprey for the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force Special Operations Command. Col Kelly has flown over 2500 flight hours in over 50 different aircraft types, including the first F-35B supersonic flight, the first F-35B in-flight engine shutdown and restart and seventeen F-35B vertical landings aboard the USS WASP during the initial ship suitability trials. His personal decorations include the Legion of Merit (two awards), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), the Meritorious Service Medal and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (three awards) as well as other campaign and service awards.