Welcome to Inzpire Graeme
17 Aug 23
New JoinersInzpire
Graeme “Spotter” Harris joins us as a principal consultant in the Cyber Division after five years in industry following a 28-year career in the Royal Air Force.
Graeme joined the RAF in the air operations specialisation in 1990. He carried out routine branch postings until his initial assignment into systems engineering at the air defence Systems Development Centre at RAF Bentley Priory, and a subsequent tour at the NATO Programming Centre in Glons, Belgium.
Following a return to branch duties in 2001, he completed the RAF’s Aerosystems Course in 2005 and subsequently became the C2 systems team leader at 56 Squadron. Promoted to squadron leader in 2007, Graeme then entered the world of Tactical Data Links (TDL) as the deputy OC of the Joint Data Link Management Organisation at High Wycombe. He was deployed on Op TELIC as part of the staff of the Senior British Military Representative (Iraq) in Baghdad in the spring of 2009, where he coordinated the planning and execution of extraction of all UK Forces (~400 people plus armoured vehicles and helicopters) from Baghdad on time, in good order, and without casualties in July 2009.
Remaining on a non-standard career path, Graeme then completed a tour at RAF Benson in the Puma and Merlin Force Headquarters. He deployed twice to Jordan in support of Merlin pre-deployment training for Op HERRICK and introduced the use of operational tracking systems for exercise use to enhance flight safety for the crews.
At the end of that tour, in 2011, he was headhunted back to the Air and Space Warfare Centre to be part of the nascent RAF Cyber organisation. Graeme provided wider cyber training to RAF career courses; managed development of the early cyber range; and developed processes for non-kinetic effect integration, through participation in several RED FLAG exercises and the inaugural CYBER FLAG in 2013. With the rest of the cyber team, he also co-developed the initial cyber vulnerability investigation process and co-authored the first such study on a front-line combat aircraft system of systems.
Graeme undertook his final operational tour as a master controller on No 1 Air Control Centre at RAF Scampton, where he successfully led the first formed unit deployment of UK ground C2 staff to RED FLAG. He subsequently deployed as a mission crew commander in 2015 to a USAF operations centre, managing coalition air operations over more than 800,000 square miles of airspace and providing air support to coalition ground and maritime forces.
Graeme’s final RAF job was within the Defence Equipment and Support organisation from Nov 2015 as one of three requirements managers with responsibility for ground-based air defence systems (GBAD). He specialised in the TDL, sensor and air picture production elements of the Sky Sabre medium-range air defence system and the Land Environment Air Picture Production equipment.
Having left the RAF in Nov 2018, Graeme joined Metrea Mission Data Ltd as a TDL and C2 consultant. He worked on the RAF’s latest deployable long-range air defence radar system and continued working with DE&S on GBAD systems for the Land GBAD Programme, including user and system requirements for the All-Arms Counter Small UAS capability. He also co-authored a detailed study into the future use of TDLs by the Army.
Graeme lives just south of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset alongside his partner, Sarah. He has two children from a previous marriage, both of whom are now attending university, and spends much of his spare time renovating and maintaining his and his partner’s properties. He also dabbles in computer gaming when he has time.
A warm welcome to the team Spotter!
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QinetiQ and University of Lincoln collaborate to establish a national Centre for Defence and Security Artificial Intelligence
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This collaboration will see QinetiQ, Inzpire, and Naimuri work with the University of Lincoln to maximise capabilities in artificial intelligence
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