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Veteran reflects on a high-flying career

News-Topic - 6/16/2020

Jun. 13--When it comes to having close contact with the people who make history, it doesn't get much closer than being an Air Force flight attendant. Retired Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Rich LaMotte was one of them, seeing to the safety and comfort of three administrations of United States presidents, vice presidents and their families.

"We're there to wake them up and there to put them to bed," LaMotte said. "We are the first contact on that plane and we maintain everything."

LaMotte retired last year after a 27-year career in the Air Force. For the last 17 years, he worked as an Air Force flight attendant, an exclusive group that is trusted with transporting some of the United States government's most valued personnel and their guests.

LaMotte served under President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama and current President Donald Trump.

Now that he's retired and living in Lenoir, LaMotte has started putting together a display at his home to commemorate his years of service and the people he served. He said that it was an honor to work for and with three presidents over his career, no matter what side of the political aisle they came from.

"As a member of the military, I serve whoever is in office," he said. "You learn to respect the office and the person who goes along with that office. It's an incredibly hard job, and I respect everybody who takes that presidency."

LaMotte said that he felt a special sense of pride when he saw a president walking down the steps onto the runway, as he knew exactly what was happening on the plane behind the president at any given moment.

"When he's standing at the bottom of the stairs, I know what the guys are doing up in the airplane," he said. "I know the logistical challenges that they're faced with."

One of the main challenges, he said, is the food. Flight attendants in the Air Force are also trained in the culinary arts, and it's their job to plan every meal over the course of a mission, from the development of the menu to shopping for ingredients to putting it all together in the end.

"It's done for the security aspect to make sure food is secure. A lot of places we go around the world, we can't necessarily shop on the road," he said. "The flight attendants are always in positive control of the food at all times. It's never out of our sight."

LaMotte said that it's a job that starts at a desk, mapping out meal plans for everyone who will be on board, and even though there are obvious safety benefits to having all food handled by authorized personnel, there's another, less glamorous reason.

"Let's face it, we're the government. We're also cheap!" He said with a laugh. "It's a lot less expensive for me to go shopping before we take off than it is to have to go out to the market wherever we are, or even worse, have everything catered."

Among the most cherished pieces in his collection are the challenge coins that he has gathered over the years, coins that are specific to offices and ranks and service members usually carry theirs everywhere. On his rack, he has coins from presidents, first ladies, vice presidents, house speakers and other high-ranking military personnel.

"Every distinguished visitor or VIP that we travel with would have their own military challenge coin," he said, and it's tradition to swap coins with officials and military members.

When LaMotte retired, he had risen to the second-highest enlisted rank in the Air Force, and the owners of many of the coins that decorate his wall reached out to celebrate his career. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Bush, Vice President Joe Biden and Obama are just a few of the signatures on letters of congratulations and gratitude that now adorn LaMotte's wall.

Looking back on the evidence of a job well done, LaMotte said that he has nothing but positive feelings and gratitude towards the military and the countless men and women he served.

"I mean, I'm a kid from Albany, New York, and I got to walk on these airplanes every day and fly around the world and fly some of the most respected and powerful people in the United States," he said. "I witnessed history, and it was an honor indeed to have done this."

Reporter Garrett Stell can be reached at 828-610-8723.

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