Strategy In Action with Philip Lester

Air Vice-Marshal Philip Lester CBE QCVS MA MPhil (Cantab) FCMI RAF is senior officer (2*) in the Royal Air Force reserve. Throughout his military career, he held a variety of key leadership and strategic roles. He is recognised for his expertise in defence strategy, policy and international relations, having contributed significantly to the development of joint, NATO and UK doctrine and strategic planning as well as UK and NATO professional military education. He has served in 6 United States headquarters during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Air Vice-Marshal Lester played a pivotal role in major operational deployments, collaborating with allied forces and managing complex, high-stakes situations most recently against Da’esh in Mosul and Northern Iraq. Following his retirement from active service, he has continued to support the defence sector as a reserve officer, a strategic advisor and thought leader, offering insights on leadership, organisational transformation, and global security challenges. He is currently a member of senior staff at the Royal College of Defence Studies, a strategic advisor to Gartner UK, an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Understanding of Defence and Security at the University of Exeter and a board member at the Freeman Air and Space Institute. In his spare time, he is an avid Arsenal supporter, an ambassador for a UK veterans’ charity and he volunteers for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.