After a nearly 20-year Air Force career that took him all over the world, Matt Zamosky returned to Westmoreland County looking for a job.

After fueling jets in war zones and the president's airplane, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with the rest of his life when he enrolled at Seton Hill University in 2006.

Just a few years later, Zamosky, 50, of Unity, director of the county's Office of Veterans Affairs, runs one of the county's busiest offices, overseeing services and benefits vital for the area's 35,000 former service members and their families.

“This is not where I envisioned myself ending up. I envisioned myself getting into the private sector, but here I measure success in a lot of different ways. You're not going to get rich working in human services, but you get the satisfaction in helping people. If you can do that — improve their situation — that's all you need,” Zamosky said.

Zamosky runs an office with a $300,000 budget and a staff of four who coordinate transportation for medical services and act as liaisons for veterans seeking benefits from state and federal agencies.

The office provides flags and markers placed at veterans' graves in the county's cemeteries, Zamosky said. That number topped more than 60,000 this year.

“The average veteran doesn't know what he or she is entitled to. We have people all the time come to us, unable to make a financial obligation, and we're able to help them,” Zamosky said.

His military career started a year before he graduated from Hempfield Area High School, when as a junior he joined the Army National Guard. He later served as a fueling specialist at Andrews Air Force Base, tending to Air Force One, then performed the same duties in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates during Operation Desert Storm. Zamosky also was stationed at bases in England, Texas and Las Vegas before leaving the military in 2006.

While studying at Seton Hill, Zamosky interned in the county Veterans Affairs Office and was hired as director in 2010.

He will take over next year as president of the Pennsylvania Association of County Directors of Veterans Affairs.

County officials earlier this year placed a brighter spotlight on the veterans program, moving it from a small office on the sixth floor of the courthouse to larger digs in a high-traffic area on the second floor.

Commissioner Charles Anderson, a retired Marine Corps colonel, said it is important that local veterans have an advocate such as Zamosky.

“He's really making significant contributions to the veterans who need help. Benefits are always changing, and he's the guy we rely on to keep veterans up to speed. We moved him from a closet to a luxury suite, that's how important that office is,” Anderson said.

For Zamosky, the new, larger office space is nice. But the real reward is the difference he's been able to make for local veterans.

“We're just trying to help then untangle the red tape,” Zamosky said.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.

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