Warrant Officer Danks of Armament Engineering Flight at RAF Honington has been awarded the Best Non-Commissioned Engineer in the RAF for 2022.
I feel humbled and honoured to receive such a prestigious award from The Worshipful Company of Engineers, but must stress that being nominated, and to receive such an award could not have been possible without the highly professional and dedicated Armament Engineering Flight Team that I work with. I hope that with such an award being presented to an engineer employed within the Force Protection Force through the sustained completion of aircraft engineering work and driving change within the infantry weapons arena, illustrates that engineering at RAF Honington not only directly supports Force Protection elements, but also exemplifies the Royal Air Force whole force concept.
Warrant Officer Danks
Armament Engineering Flight
Warrant Officer Danks has created an environment at RAF Honington where team members identify problems, optimise solutions and deliver future focussed projects. The creation of a ‘Service first’ ASRAAM missile maintenance facility has enabled Air Specialists (Class 2) to be posted in, adding value and gaining key National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). He has empowered others to design a programme for service personnel awaiting trade training to join the team, hone their technical hand skills, build confidence and collaborate in an RAF environment. Recent innovation projects include digitising and automating armoury services, exploiting tablet technology to reduce maintenance errors and identify cost effective methods to account for reserves who are unfit to handle live arms. He is the embodiment of inspirational leadership.
It is great news that Warrant Officer Danks’ amazing work can be recognised with such a prestigious award. It both rewards his tremendous efforts in bringing about innovation and publicises an achievement that any engineer could be inspired by.
Flight Lieutenant Cooper
Officer Commanding Armament Engineering Flight
