The Grand Master's Medal

Awarded to an individual under the age of 30 for outstanding achievement and endeavour in any field of aviation.

2020 Awarded to: Technical Sergeant Zane Romick USAF

Technical Sergeant Zane Romick is a Special Mission Systems Technician, Quality Assurance Inspector, and an EC-130H Scanner, serving at Detachment 1, 645th Aeronautical Systems Squadron, Waco, Texas.  He led teams of military, civilian, and contractor personnel in sustainment and modification efforts for the EC-130H Compass Call electronic attack aircraft.  Throughout this past year, he made profound contributions to the unit’s assigned programmes by providing a fresh and warfighter-based perspective.  Utilising his recent deployments overseas, he was able to convey real-world priorities and expedite them through the acquisition process.  Earlier this past year, as a Special Mission Systems Technician, he led a 90-member team to analyse the wavelengths of the EC-130H’s Radio Frequency spectrum.  Based off changes to the newly-modified equipment and material, the EC-130H required signal optimization.  Sergeant Romick leveraged his experience to work with Mission System engineers to analyse and devise new baseline standards for the upgraded systems.  Once the standards were defined, he led a Depot Field Team to retrofit the remaining fleet of aircraft at their home station, under tight time constraints, with many of them poised to deploy around the globe.  His work directly contributed to the EC-130H maintaining its status as the most-utilized electronic warfare aircraft and C-130 variant, with more than 3,000 combat hours in operations overseas. 

Furthermore, as a Quality Assurance Inspector, Sergeant Romick frequently reviewed maintenance manuals for accuracy and efficiency.  Upon analysing an Electronic Warfare Pod upload procedure, utilizing a new equipment stand, he noticed inaccuracies in the processes required for the task.  Sergeant Romick drafted new procedures and coordinated them with all required officials, resulting in enhanced safety of maintenance technicians and a more efficient process for rapid pod maintenance.  His process equated to more than 152 maintenance
man-hours saved each year.  Additionally, Sergeant Romick’s experience was also highly valued as an instructor.  Realizing the newly modified EC-130H systems would require practical operations knowledge and troubleshooting, he was dispatched to instruct 12 maintenance technician cadres over 24 hours of hands-on experience.  The exemplary instruction was then imparted to 100+ technicians throughout the unit that were continually deploying in support of Operation FREEDOM’S SENTINEL.

Finally, Sergeant Romick expanded his resourcefulness by becoming an EC-130H Non-Rated Aircrew Scanner.  As a Scanner, he ensures the safety and effectiveness of the aircraft during test and training flights.  Most recently, Sergeant Romick was able to augment the Airborne Maintenance Technician position during the newly-integrated Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast system ground and flight test.  Sergeant Romick flew three test missions and led military and civilian ground maintenance teams, during the two-week test deployment.  The impact of this new system greatly enhances aircrew situational awareness and provides precise information to allow de-confliction air traffic in highly-congested airspaces. Sergeant Romick’s efforts led to the successful completion of the test, as well as the certification for integration and use across the EC-130H fleet all around the globe.        

For his outstanding outstanding achievement and endeavour in the field of aeronautics, Technical Sergeant Zane Romick is awarded the Grand Master’s Medal.

Previous Winners:

1962/63 M P Glegg Esq

1963/64 D A Martin Esq

196465 T A Henderson Esq

1965/66 P G Hadgett Esq

196667 J W D Robertson Esq

196768 R J Barbour Esq

1968/69 A J E Tiley Esq

1969/70 C Redrupp Esq

1970/71 R G P Taylor Esq

1971/72 D Smethurst Esq

1972/73 G G Leask Esq

1973/74 J F Rothwell Esq

1974/75 G J Bressey Esq

1975/76 J F Nash Esq

1976/77 M J Thrower Esq

_______

1992/93 M D W Bowker Esq

1993/94 R Ka Fuk Cheung Esq

1994/95 W S Gilmour Esq

1995/96 Jamal Jamal Mohammed Jamal

1996/97 Matthew J Clatworthy Esq

1997/98 Emma Joanne Phelps

1998/99 Captain W I E Anderson

1999/2000 Pilot Ofiicer J S Clayton

2000/01 Nicholas Chan

2001/02 Flight Lieutenant Nicola Thomas

2002/03 Daniel Fonseca MEng (Hons) GradRAeS

2003/04 Philip Gareth Donovan

2004/05 Peter Charles Edward Nye

2006 - 2010 Not awarded

2010/11 Isabelle de Montet-Guerin

            Captain Robert Shoenberg USAF

2012 - 2014 Not awarded

2014/15  Flight Lieutenant Christopher Gonzalez RAF 

2016  Flight Lieutenant Colin Bostrom MSc RAF

2017  Captain Matthew A Shipp USAF

2018  Captain Alexander Horrell USAF

2019  Aaron Keith Pearce

2020  Technical Sergeant Zane Romick USAF