Retiring sergeants’ careers start, end with 660th AMXS

  • Published
  • By Nick DeCicco
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - More than four decades of Air Force experience left the 660th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron in March when a pair of sergeants retired.

Shannon Smith, a retired senior master sergeant, and Richard Zambori, a retired master sergeant, both spent the majority of their careers with the squadron located at Travis Air Force Base, California.

They joined the Air Force in the mid-1990s, part of a batch of fresh, young Airmen to converge on the 660th AMXS in a short time frame.

“There was a group of us,” said Zambori. “We all came in together … all the way up to tech, master sergeant and all that. It was just nice. We hung out together, barbecued together, families know each other, kids know each other. It was just like a big family here for a long time.”

Zambori was 21 when he arrived Sept. 20, 1995, at Travis. Smith came a few months earlier, landing July 26, 1995, at Travis.

Smith, who considers Oklahoma home and also spent time in North Carolina before joining the Air Force, spent 14 of his 22 years with the 660th AMXS.

In 1998, Smith made senior airman and became a flying crew chief, spending hundreds of days on the road during the next four years. In 2002, he joined “A Check,” a unit that does periodic inspections on the squadron’s fleet of KC-10 Extenders.

He made technical sergeant while deployed in support of post-9/11 operations. In the mid-2000s, he did a recruiting tour for four years in Richmond, California, nearly 40 miles from Travis. After time in aero repair and a few years in the 621st Contingency Response Wing, Smith’s career ended back where it started, spending his final three years as an E-8 and lead production superintendent at the 660th.

Despite the moves, Smith never changed bases.

“I tried to get out of here and they wouldn’t let me, so I quit trying,” said Smith with a laugh.

Zambori, a native of San Diego, California, spent his entire career with the 660th. He made airman below the zone and, like Smith, spent significant time traversing the globe in support of Travis missions.

“I was gone 200 days, plus, a year,” said Zambori.

He said several Airmen made it a competition as to who could be gone the most days in a year.

“And I won a couple of ‘em,” he said, smiling.

Smith echoed those sentiments.

“Back when I was younger, I spent more time with my co-workers than I did my family,” he said.

After a year as a section chief, Zambori went into production. He was an expeditor for six years. He ended as production superintendent for the 660th AMXS, running maintenance and flying operations on the flightline.

Smith said after years away from the 660th AMXS, he noticed a change in Zambori’s knowledge base when he returned.

“Since I left and came back, he is definitely the KC-10 master,” said Smith. “I would challenge anybody who thinks they know more than he does about the KC-10. … He’s like an elephant. He can remember dates, time frames. He can remember a tail number from 10 years ago. I can’t do that.”

In the hours before Zambori’s March 31 retirement ceremony, both looked back on their careers both together and individually.

“We’ve been together a long time,” said Zambori. “We deployed together. We were A-1-Cs, senior airmen, back in the day.”

The two deployed together for the first time in 1998, Smith said, when they did a No. 2 engine change on a KC-10 at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

Smith said that the demanding life of a maintainer is just the reality of the job.

“The guys who make it the 20 years, the 20-plus who retire, stay in maintenance their entire careers, they don’t know how not to work hard,” he said. “They don’t know that it’s hard work. It’s just what we do. … That is the job and they accept that as the job. You know, 12-, 14-, 16-hour days as you’re traveling the world and the airplane lands, you have to put it to bed. You’re the one to do it.”

Zambori was often that person, volunteering to work the first shift when the squadron would deploy to new locations after flying for hours.

“Somebody’s got to work as soon as you land and I always volunteered to work,” said Zambori. “I didn’t care. I loved it. … You kind of get used to it after a while.”

Lt. Col. Jens Lyndrup, 660th AMXS commander, said Smith and Zambori were special to the Air Force.

“They are professional maintainers who get the job done with little fanfare and always correctly,” said Lyndrup. “Few Airmen stay with the same unit their entire career, and even fewer gain the level of expertise these two achieved. We’re lucky to have served with them and we wish them luck in their new adventures.

“Senior Master Sgt. Smith and Master Sgt. Zambori’s stories are the story of the KC-10 at Travis AFB and the story of the 660th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Their experience, their stories, their deployments and their love of the KC-10 reflect the thousands of American Airmen who’ve graced Travis to keep the Extender refueling around the world.”

Smith said that while his Air Force story is ending, the new reality hasn’t set in just yet. He’s looking forward to days that aren’t quite as hectic in the short term.

“I’m going to retire and spend my days staring at the dog, for a while, anyway,” he said.