This is a past event
‘Military – Industrial Leadership’ Presented by Philip Mitchell, MBA MSc BEng(Hons) CEng FRAeS Robert Gordon University (RGU) is to host the annual Elphinstone Defence Lecture delivered by renowned leader in military engineering, Philip Mitchell, on Thursday 8 March 2012. The prestigious leadership lecture, this year entitled ‘Military – Industrial Leadership’, is organised by the RGU and Aberdeen University Military Education Committee. The lecture is open to members of the general public, leading local businesses, officers in training and representatives from the armed forces. The lecture will compare skills required for leadership in a military career with those required to progress through the higher grades of a career in industry. The seminar comes at a pertinent time when many industries, including Energy and Finance, are recognising the extensive transferable leadership and management skills that military personnel have to offer. This has also been acknowledged by RGU, who at industry’s request, is offering a new Masters (MSc) in Leadership and Management to support the transition of ex-military Officers and Warrant Officers back into the civilian world.
RAF Service
Phil Mitchell joined the Royal Air Force in 1988. An engineer, his background includes serving as an Engineering Officer with No.10 Squadron VC10 Transport aircraft, during which he was deployed for operations against Iraq. He was appointed Officer Commanding Aircraft Engineering Servicing Flight at Royal Air Force Gutersloh, in charge of the Station’s overhaul and maintenance of both Helicopters and Harriers, and later moved the section to Royal Air Force Laarbruch, Germany.
His first staff tour was within Ministry of Defence, he served in Operational Requirements, initially undertaking a full time Masters Degree in Reliability and Maintainability, later setting Supportability requirements for future military aircraft as well as providing Policy lead for Reliability and Maintenance initiatives and activities across the Royal Air Force.
He was appointed Senior Engineering Officer on No. 20 Squadron Harrier Squadron in 2001, and was later detached from his duties at Royal Air Force Wittering, to become Officer Commanding Engineering at Incirlik, Turkey for Air Operations against Iraq. Operating alongside the US and Turkey, he commanded the UK Joint engineering team during deployment and into the combat phase, recovering to the UK in February 2003 and subsequently worked in the MOD Operations Bunker for the duration of the Offensive Air Operations. He was subsequently appointed as the Royal Air Force’s Engineering Test Director for Joint Strike Fighter. Promoted to Wing Commander in 2005, he was appointed to lead the Air Division of Reliability-centred Maintenance and was responsible for leading Maintenance programmes across the Military Air Environment.
He has a degree in Aerosystems Engineering (1988), an MSc in Reliability Engineering from Exeter University (1997) and undertook a part-time MBA study at Birmingham University (2005). He became a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 2009. He is a keen long distance swimmer and swam the English Channel in 2003.
Phil joined Bristow Helicopters Ltd in December 2007 moving from his last tour of duty as Chief of Staff for 904 Expeditionary Air Wing, Kandahar, Afghanistan to the position of Director of Operations, Bristow Helicopters Ltd.
Bristow Helicopters Group, Dec 2007-Jul 2010
Phil’s role as Director of Centralised Operations assumed responsibility for an operational P&L and revenue of c.$300M. It leads the vital functions across supply chain, supplier development, line engineering and heavy maintenance, fleet support (technical drawings, operating manuals, type engineers), pilot and engineering training, and technology and applications (product and supplier development, R&D and a design office as well as component/parts production line) – a business unit, to provide high quality, profitable helicopter services to key clients primarily in the oil and gas industries.
Senior Director UK Services, Bombardier Inc, Jul 2010 - Present
In Jul 10, Phil moved to be a Senior Director with Bombardier Aerospace and Transportation. Bombardier Inc is a global company headquartered in Canada and one of the World's leading manufacturers of planes and trains. Its revenues in its most recent year were US$20Bn. There are currently 65 000 employees in 24 countries worldwide.
- Speaker
- Philip Mitchell
- Venue
- Lecture Theatre H223, Faculty of Health & Social Care Building