Major Matt McGath is a native of St. Joseph, Michigan. He attended high school in Waconia, Minnesota, and then Berrien Springs, Michigan, where he graduated in 1986. While in high school he participated in football, basketball, volleyball, cross country, and track. Upon graduation, Matt initially attended the University of Michigan before transferring to the University of South Florida, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.

Matt was commissioned through the Platoon Leaders Class (PLC) combined program in December 1994. He reported to The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, in May 1995. In January 1996, Matt reported to Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida, to begin his flight training, and was selected as the first Marine to attend primary flight training with the Air Force at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma, flying the T-37 Tweet jet trainer. In December 1996, Matt reported to Training Squadron 22 (VT-22) at NAS Kingsville, Texas, to fly the T-45 Goshawk. In December 1997, Matt transitioned to multi-engine aircraft and reported to VT-31 to fly the T-44 Pegasus and received his wings of gold in April 1998.

In May 1998, Matt reported to Marine Aerial Refueling Transport Training Squadron 253 (VMGRT-253) at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina, to begin his KC- 130 training. He then reported to his first fleet squadron VMGR-252, also at Cherry Point, in June 2000. While at VMGR-252, Matt served as a plans officer and a flight duty officer in the operations department. In August 2002, he reported to VMGR-152 in Okinawa, Japan, for his second fleet tour as the aviation safety officer and a flight instructor before becoming the Marine Air Group 36 (MAG-36) Director of Safety and Standardization. During his time in the fleet, Matt has flown in support of numerous operations and exercises in England, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Norway, Iceland, Canada, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Colombia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Malaysia, Guam, Thailand, and Australia.