633rd Air Base Wing Public Affairs
12/8/2014 - JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. -- The 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing held a Heritage Awards and Dedication ceremony at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, Dec. 4.
The ceremony recognized three former wing members, including retired Brig. Gen. Larry Grundhauser, prior 480th Intelligence Wing commander; 1st Lt. Roslyn Schulte, who was killed in action serving in Afghanistan, and Senior Airman Zane Wright, who lost his life battling cancer.
"We wanted to recognize great Airmen at different levels who have served in our organization by attaching their names to our annual awards program," said Col. Tim Haugh, 480th ISR Wing commander, of the awards recognizing the wing's top company grade and field grade officers , and airmen performers each year.
The Airmen recognized all made various contributions to the wing that have been marked in history and implemented into today's missions.
Grundhauser was selected as the 480th Intelligence Wing's, which was later renamed the ISR Wing, first commander in 2003. He was awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, and the Legion of Merit for contributions made to the ISR community and Air Force throughout his 30-year career.
Schulte volunteered for a deployment to Afghanistan where she trained Afghan military personnel on intelligence gathering. During that deployment, she was killed in action while en route to an intelligence meeting at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, May 20, 2009. She was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
On January 25, 2010, she was recognized posthumously with the National Intelligence Medal for Valor becoming the first female recipient. Her citation noted her efforts to teach Afghan military officials how to gather and interpret military intelligence.
During the ceremony, Haugh said Schulte embodied the Air Force core values.
"(She) lead by example of service in a deployed environment in war time, and for that, she paid the ultimate price," he said.
Wright worked as an image analyst for the 480th ISR Wing for four years. At the ISR Wing, he created and developed the Unified Collections Operations Reporting Network, or UNICORN program, to share actionable intelligence to coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. He died from a rare and aggressive form of cancer in his home in Yorktown, Virginia, Sept. 24, 2012.
"The man was brilliant," said Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command. "He's a legend. His name's not well known, but what he did with UNICORN as a young senior airman is incredible."
Along with recognizing the three Airmen, the ceremony also reflected the wing's history dating back to 1943 when it was formed as the 480th Antisubmarine Group. The group was a key factor in ties the integration of intelligence in the Allied effort to stop the surge of U-Boats in the Mediterranean during World War II. The wing was re-designated the 480th Intelligence Wing and reactivated Dec. 1, 2003, and it was renamed the 480th ISR Wing in 2009. For the past 40 years, the wing has been actively deployed around the world to support ISR operations.
"What you bring to the fight and do for your Air Force and your nation is incredible," said Carlisle. "There is nothing that you have not touched that the United States Air Force has been a part of. People will be reading about what the 480th did to change the face of how we conduct operations for years to come."
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