Services honor NAVAIR engineer Published Jan. 18, 2008 Joint Services Wiring Action Group TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- Former Naval Air Systems Command engineer and Wiring Systems Branch Head, Jerome Collins, received the Lu Roberts Award. Collins earned the Lu Roberts Award for exemplifying outstanding service and dedication to the advancement of DoD aerospace wiring interconnect systems. His tenacity and great attention to detail helped secure this award, given to him by the members of the Joint Service Wiring Action Group (JSWAG) at their semi-annual meeting. "I want to thank Jerome for all his work for the Navy," said John Warren, Power and Energy Division Director of Propulsion and Power. "Especially in leading the Wiring Branch and engaging in a number of activities to advance wiring technology, safety for the Fleet and leadership in JSWAG which took a lot of work and he excelled at it." Lu Roberts was one of the first coordinators of the Naval Wiring Action Group (NAVWAG) and was instrumental in getting wiring systems recognized and equally treated as integral elements of aircraft health and maintenance. For too long, wiring systems were considered "fit and forget" items, Collins said. Eddie Reams, automatic test equipment manager for the Coast Guard aircraft wiring systems, said that if you ever wanted something accomplished all you had to do was ask Roberts and it would get done. Roberts and Reams were plank owners of the wiring action group. Sadly, Roberts passed away after being struck by a motorist during his daily bike ride near San Diego a few years ago. NAVAIR JSWAG coordinator Ollie Muja said that Robert's legacy lives on in people like Collins who have the drive and determination to see things through and get jobs done, no matter the obstacle. Although Collins never knew Roberts personally, he said he heard of his reputation as a talented engineer who was dedicated to making sure Sailors and Marines had the best supplies and resources available to provide the proper maintenance on Naval aircraft. The NAVWAG originally started out as a forum for depot-level maintenance focused only on input from depot maintainers and the issues they faced. Collins began attending, with plank owner Rick Clarkson also of NAVAIR, the Air Force hosted Aging Aircraft Wiring Working Group meeting, which was the Air Force's equivalent to the NAVWAG. It was the consensus of the NAVWAG leadership to try and merge the Air Force and Navy groups together and thus the JSWAG was born. With the joint focus also came a change that included the voices from the Fleet. Collins said it was vitally important that, at least from NAVAIR's perspective, the action group hear from aircraft wiring maintenance professionals at the intermediate and operational levels. "The problems that the maintainers are having are common across all services," Collins said. "The JSWAG is our way of touching the user and finding out what their problems are." Collins readily admits he could have never accomplished anything if it weren't for the commitment and energy of the shipmates from NAVAIR, other services and industry partners. Some of the successes accomplished on his watch include getting handheld wiring diagnostic tools added to the general wiring maintenance manuals, and furthering Robert's idea of getting aircraft wiring treated as a unique system equal to that of the other aircraft systems. "It is truly an honor to receive the Lu Roberts award," said Collins, former NAVAIR Wiring Systems Branch Head. "Although I never had the privilege of meeting Mr. Roberts before he passed away, I have had many opportunities to discuss his legacy with individuals like Rick Clarkson and Eddie Reams who did know him. I feel very undeserving of this award based upon what they have told me of his valuable efforts. Therefore, I will not accept this award alone. Instead, I accept this award for all those who have worked with me over the last five years in the wiring systems community."