Matt Thorne – Director, Defense and Intelligence Programs

A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and the Joint Improvised Threat Defeat Organization (JIDO), with nearly two decades of academic and professional experience in global counterterrorism, counter threat network, and asymmetric warfare issues,

Matt Thorne has distinguished himself with excellence in the academic, defense, open source intelligence, and private sectors.

Matt Thorne distinguished himself as an innovator by conceptualizing, developing, and successfully leading proof-of-concept capabilities to U.S. Department of Defense contracts with CALNET Inc. and Lockheed Martin before joining the Firebird team in 2012. Leading Firebird’s analytical activities in support of U.S. DOD and IC operations, Mr. Thorne has been central to Firebird’s core ethos of providing effects-oriented support to our clients.

Firebird recognizes that too much “analysis” consists of summarizing existing information and describing a problem set, versus conducting the hard, complex, and highly skilled work of developing new information and enabling opportunities to achieve meaningful effects against to support a mission outcome. Matt Thorne’s leadership expertise in analytical tools, fused technologies, support to special operations, and whole of government teaming sets the tone for Firebird employees to bring determination and grit to help our customers achieve their target end states. His leadership ensures that the Firebird Defense and Intelligence teams bridge the gap between analysis and operations – developing new information to identify opportunities that enable customers to achieve operational effects.

His relentless drive ensures that Firebird always brings new information that transforms situational awareness into situational understanding, creates viable operational opportunities, and enables clients to go where they have not gone before. His unique talent for quickly facilitating productive communication, understanding and articulating customer requirements, exploring undiscovered or undeveloped information spaces, developing innovative solutions, and leading teams to deliver impactful results on time has enabled Firebird to earn client, market and peer recognition in the market. Mr. Thorne is currently based in Northern Virginia.