Lieutenant Colonel Matthew L. Kuhns is a native of Ankeny, Iowa. He commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) upon graduation from Iowa State University in 1998. His previous assignments include: Platoon Leader and Direct Support Maintenance Shop Officer, B Company, 172nd Support Battalion; Material Readiness Officer and Deputy Chief Brigade Materiel Management Center (BMMC), Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 172nd Support Battalion, 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate), Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Commander, 705th Ordnance Company (EOD), Fort Polk, Louisiana and Mosul, Iraq; Assistant S3 Operations Officer, 71st Ordnance Group (EOD), Fort Carson, Colorado; Response Team Leader and Training Officer, Combined Explosives Exploitation Cell (CEXC), Baghdad, Iraq; Liaison Officer from Combined Joint Task Force Troy (Counter-Improvised Explosive Device) to Multi-National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) Counter IED Intelligence Operations Center, Baghdad, Iraq; Officer in Charge, Engineer Explosive Ordnance Clearance Agent Course (E-EOCA), Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; S3 Operations Officer, 3rd Ordnance Battalion (EOD), Joint Base Lewis McCord, Washington; J3 Operations Officer, Joint Task Force Paladin South (C-IED), Kandahar, Afghanistan; and C-IED Program Integrator, Branch Chief and Deputy Division Chief, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organization (JIDO), Washington D.C.

From July 2017 to March of 2018, LTC Kuhns served as the Commander of Task Force EOD assigned to United States Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) located at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.

His military education includes completion of the Ordnance Officer Basic Course; Combined Logistics Officer Advanced Course; Combined Arms and Service Staff School; Honor Graduate of the U.S. Navy School Explosive Ordnance Disposal; U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; and National Defense University - Joint Forces Staff College – Joint Professional Military Education Level II. He holds an MA in Management and Leadership from Webster University and a BA in Communications from Iowa State University.

LTC Kuhns’ awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (2 Oak Leaf Cluster), Defense Meritorious Service Medal (1 OLC), Meritorious Service Medal (2 OLC), Joint Service Commendation Medal (1OLC), Army Commendation Medal (1 OLC), Army Achievement Medal (1 OLC), Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Valorous Unit Award (1 OLC), Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, NATO Medal, and the Combat Action, Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Air Assault Badges.

LTC Kuhns is married to the former Christine Bugenhagen of West Des Moines, Iowa and they have two daughters Rian, Regan, and son Nicholas.