Alumni Awards

Matt Armbruster received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice in 2006, while dually enrolled at McMurry and Hardin Simmons University. Shortly after graduation, Matt was hired by the Lubbock Police Department as part of Class 2006-Alpha, where he worked on midnight and evening shift patrol as well as a field training officer. In the fall of 2009, Matt was selected as a member of the Lubbock SWAT Team. He served as an entry team member on high-risk search warrants and deployed as a sniper on SWAT call-outs to barricaded suspects and hostage rescue operations. In the spring of 2010, Matt was selected as a member of the street crimes and gang unit and served for five years, assisting in undercover and plain clothes investigations along with the apprehension of known felons, gang members, and suspected murder suspects. Matt also assisted in human trafficking investigations that spanned across the country.
In 2016 Matt completed a lateral transfer to the Abilene Police Department, so he could return to his hometown and raise his family in a smaller community. In 2018, Matt was selected to become a member of the Abilene SWAT team and the Bomb Squad, and in 2019 he became a licensed FBI Public Safety Bomb Technician. Matt was named the Abilene Police Department’s Officer of the Year in 2020 after actions that were taken during SWAT callouts and from resuscitating an 18-month-old child that had sustained serious injuries due to a motor vehicle collision. Matt was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2021 after completing the department’s supervisor promotional and assessment process. Currently, he is assigned as patrol supervisor on C Company, evening shift and an assistant entry team leader to the department’s SWAT team and Bomb Squad.

During the time Matt has been a police officer, he has obtained his Master Peace Officer’s license. Matt has advanced training in firearms and is a firearms instructor and armorer. He has advanced training in hostage rescue, counter terrorism, tactical combat casualty care, and sniper over watch. Matt is also certified in Dignitary Protection and has been a part of security details for multiple United States Presidents and their families, as well as other heads of state. Matt also has received advanced training in explosive disposal techniques and has recently become an assistant instructor at the National Center for Explosives Training and Research facility located in Huntsville, AL. In the fall of 2020, Matt became a certified Gracie Survival Tactics Instructor for the Abilene Police Department.
Matt also serves as the Region 5 Training Director for the Texas Tactical Police Officers Association. The Association is responsible for providing thousands of training hours and schools for tactical teams and law enforcement officers in Texas and throughout the country. In his free time, Matt trains in Brazilian jiu jitsu and assists with teaching children’s classes.

Matt is married to his college sweetheart, Michelle Alexander Armbruster ’07, and together they have two sons, Wyatt (8) and Logan (6).