What’s it like to work in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance?
18 Apr 23
BlogISR ExpertsInzpire Culture
BY Philip Johnston-Davis
Following 17 years in the Royal Air Force and a further five years working within our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Division, it’s fair to say that Senior ISR Expert Philip Johnston-Davis certainly knows his stuff!
We caught up with him to find out what it’s like to be part of our talented ISR team, the innovative projects he gets to work on and how he keeps abreast of military practice through his reservist work.
Firstly, please can you tell us about your background in the RAF?
I joined the RAF in 2001 as an intelligence officer and had a broad and varied career including a range of operational deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and other places in the Gulf. I was lucky enough to get a place on the prestigious Qualified Weapons Instructor (ISR) course in 2012. This led me to focus on roles in ISR operations, capability, processes, training, and management until I felt it was time to move on and do something else out of uniform, in 2018.
Why did you choose to join Inzpire?
I’d had some exposure to Inzpire’s culture, people, and values during my tours at RAF Waddington and, of course, knew many former RAF colleagues who had joined the company. When I decided to leave the RAF, I didn’t want to join a large corporate organisation; I was looking for a smaller locally-anchored company with a strong sense of identity, team and belonging – in fact most of the things I enjoyed about service life! Although I spoke to a few companies in the sector, it was a very easy decision for me in the end and I was glad to be offered a job in the growing ISR Division.
What does your role as an ISR expert involve and what sort of projects do you get to work on?
In ISR Division we provide services in three main areas: training design and delivery, managed ISR services, and consultancy. At the moment I’m working on a number of projects within training and consultancy.
We offer a broad range of ‘off-the-peg’ training courses through Inzpire’s Training Academy spanning uncrewed air systems and the ISR life cycle - from ‘101’ style, short introductory courses through to highly technical, post-graduate level, multi-week specialist courses. Additionally, many clients have specific requirements, and we’re happy to tailor course content to support this. For example, now I’m refreshing the scope and content of our ISR Practitioner Course and developing a two-week bespoke course to respond to a client’s requirements.
In another of my current projects I’m supporting a business-to-business partner in the creation of an application that will allow the customer to replace spreadsheets and the email management of intelligence requirements – with a focus also on how these are prioritised and tracked through the system. It’s a great insight into agile software development that enables me to apply my domain knowledge and military experience to assist the team developing the software solution.
I also enjoy having the opportunity to apply my experience in unexpected areas. One of our sovereign clients recently asked if we could design and deliver an assessment centre, to provide aptitude testing to select internal candidates for training as intelligence officers. They also gave us a sporty deadline! In ISR Division we have comprehensive knowledge of the job requirements and underlying aptitudes and competencies needed for intelligence officer roles. I really enjoyed applying this to design and then deliver a two-day solution that included psychometric testing and a practical scenario task. It meant rapidly assimilating the client’s needs, calling on experience from across the company and our external providers, and ultimately working hard to deliver the testing on time and to the client’s complete satisfaction. I did need a little lie down after that one.
Joining the RAF in 2001 as an intelligence officer, Philip had a broad and varied military career
How does your military background and unique skillset help you to add value to our customers?
When a customer puts Inzpire on contract for an ISR-related task and I am allocated to the job, they are effectively investing in over twenty years’ worth of knowledge, skills, and experience drawn from a broad range of staff and command roles, as well as real-world insight from multiple operational deployments. It’s very difficult to replicate that. With a practical problem-solving mindset, I can also propose solutions they may not have considered.
I believe we never stop learning and I’m proud to remain current on military thinking and practice through my reservist activity – continuing to build my experience whilst also contributing to Defence. As a team we bring our military mindset of positive proactivity to bear for customer gain. Our collective proficiency across multiple domains – we each have different career histories and background after all - means customers can be confident in our skillset, and we absolutely seek to be innovative and flexible to meet the client’s need.
Our military skills are equally transferable to our non-defence sector clients, who face similar challenges in sensor management and the tasking, storing and processing of large quantities of data, as well as communicating key findings to decision makers. We’re used to working to fixed and challenging deadlines, often with finite resources and a degree of ambiguity.
What’s the most rewarding part of your role?
Hmm. That’s a difficult question to answer. I find being part of such a strong, mutually supportive team makes it a pleasure to log on in the morning. The fun bit about working in the ISR team is that we all help each other, whether that be providing fresh eyes to review reports and red-teaming proposals or assisting in course content development. I’m constantly blown away by how ready people are to ‘lean in’ and help a team-mate, rather than the digital equivalent of ‘avoiding eye contact’! It’s also great to see training click with students whenever they can demonstrate they’ve absorbed the material and are using it effectively in end-of-course exercises.
When we’re working with a military customer, it’s having the satisfaction of a job well done. Having been on the 'other side' of the fence, we understand the pressures of military service and strive to alleviate these wherever we are contracted.
Overall, on reflection, it’s the combination of being part of such an amazing team of talented people and being able to make a difference to the clients we collaborate with.
Interested in joining the Inzpire team? Head to our careers page to learn more about the varied and rewarding opportunities at Inzpire.
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