Former 1992 graduate from South Tama County High School, Mathew Fontinel, was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the United States Air Force. From Tama, Colonel Fontinel, joined the Air Force (AF) shortly after completing High School when he entered at the lowest rank, E-1 or Airman Basic, as an Intelligence Specialist.

After excelling in Intelligence and completing three college degrees he was commissioned as an officer at the rank of Second Lieutenant in 2001. During his career he has managed to beat the odds by starting at the lowest one percent of AF rank, but he managed to rise to the top one percent of the AF as a full Colonel and he is now a senior leader.

During his career he has worn 11 ranks, been assigned to 13 bases, deployed twice, and is qualified in three career fields. He is now in the Pentagon as a certified Senior Acquisitions Program Manager and leader overseeing 34 programs engineering and development of future military Enterprise IT solutions, Business Systems, and Offensive and Defensive Cyber capabilities valued over $9.4 billion.