Excellence in REME
Brigadier Lizzie Faithfull-Davies CBE and Brigadier Phil Prosser CBE In the New Year’s Honours for 2021, Brigadiers Lizzie Faithfull-Davies and Phil Prosser both received a CBE for their work on Op RESCRIPT. As two sides of the same coin, leading the military contribution in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS respectively, they share with us their lessons from a year no one expected. The eternal challenge for us is keeping the kit in the fight; that’s fundamental to warfighting and I have lived and breathed that for the last 2 years as Commander 101 Logistic Brigade, enabling the manoeuvre of the warfighting Division. It’s an exciting time for the Corps; with new equipment entering service, there are a number of technological opportunities where we need to invest. One area is taking the lead on developing the diagnostics that come with that equipment in order to exploit data to improve reliability and keep it in the fight for longer. And that’s not just for VMs and Armourers; there are huge opportunities for wider trade groups, like Technicians getting more involved in analytics and at the forefront of harnessing technology with Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. Brig Lizzie: From the moment I first met REME on my familiarisation
Brig Phil Prosser CBE
What made you join the Army? Brig Phil: Overall, it was a search for adventure. But I also chose REME for a number of other reasons. First, the variety and the opportunity to serve anywhere, especially with airborne forces and tanks. Second was the chance to progress my education and study for an in-service degree. Finally and most importantly, it was about the people. I probably didn’t realise it at the time but REME is a family. We are a collection of like-minded people who want and choose to be together, bound by our outlook on life as clear eyed pragmatists, united through our attitude of solving problems and achieving mission success. We are down to earth, intelligent and driven towards success. The Corps is also full of fun and some of the best times of my life have been spent in unit life, surrounded by my Corps family celebrating the success of our most recent shared endeavour. Brig Lizzie: My maths teacher! I was lucky enough to have a superb maths teacher at college; he understood that I loved maths and the sciences and suggested engineering was a practical way to use these subjects. As a retired Army officer himself, he could also relate to my passion for sport and the outdoors and he suggested I take a look at a career in engineering in the Army. This sounded like a great idea to explore, so he linked me up to an Army Careers’ Advisor and I was promptly sent off on visits to the Royal Signals, Royal Engineers and REME.
How did you decide that REME was the right fit for you? Brig Phil: The key thing with REME is that we are born problem solvers; I assume it’s the engineering brain in all of us that make us this way. But the constant engineering challenge and relevance of our role is what made it so appealing.
12 craftsmaneditor@reme-rhq.org.uk
Brig Lizzie Faithful Davies CBE
