Building EMS Aviation’s International Presence: Barrie Gray Joins the Team

Barrie Gray recently joined EMS Aviation as the Senior Account Manager for Europe. After three months on the job, we get a feel for his work and background.

Barrie Gray joined EMS Aviation in March of this year. Following a long career in the UK military, his desire was to keep moving ahead with a new career. A tinkerer in his off-time, joining EMS was an opportunity for him to combine a passion for communications and aviation, and working with people.

“It’s a challenging time for EMS Aviation,” says Gray. “We are just settling into our new structure, but our emergent technology, makes me think there is a growth path in the international arena.”

Prior to joining EMS, Gray was the Account Manager for Command Control and Information Systems with EDS Defence Services, with responsibility for delivering £45M of annual programs and services to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD).

“At EDS I was used to having my hands on everything; at EMS Aviation, my time has been freed up to concentrate on sales,” he notes. “It’s enjoyable to be a part of a growing organization with its eyes on an increasing role in the international market.”

Gray has always been interested in aviation, but led a couple of lives before concluding that there had to be a better way to earn a living.

“I left school and went to work in the Coal Mines, where I served an apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer, and later worked in the shipyards for a while. But a friend told me about his experiences in the Royal Air Force, his story rubbed off on me so that’s what led me to join the Royal Air Force where I served a second apprenticeship as an Avionic Technician.”

Working on aircraft was a passion in his early twenties, while working on the Nimrod MR1 and MR2 Fleets. Once commissioned, however the natural path would have been managing aircraft maintenance facilities, but he discovered the communications arm of the RAF (Royal Air Force), and that was it. A qualified engineer who’d worked on aircraft in his early career, he moved into the communications and IT field, and then into senior management. His passion for aircraft soon became a passion for communications and information technology (IT). It is this combination of skills and understanding that Gray brings to EMS.

“When I left the Royal Air Force I worked for EDS, and then met an EMS executive who outlined a role that would put together my skills in military aviation, communications and command and control in one.”

No stranger to leadership, Gray attended the Joint Service Defence College in Greenwich, UK to take high level service training. Eventually, he was promoted to Air Commodore (Brigadier General equivalent), and held appointments as the Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Royal Air Force and later the CIO for all UK deployed forces.

In his early military career he worked for three years as the Information and Communication System’s (ICS) Liaison Officer between the Pentagon and MOD at the British Embassy in Washington, DC, when the information revolution occurred.

“I was at the right place at the right time,” he notes. “Technology was booming, and I was working in the US right at the time when terms like Information Superiority and CIO were being invented– it was really exciting.”

He returned to UK in 1998 to take command of the Royal Air Force’s Tactical Communications Wing, and was appointed as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff (DACOS) for ICS Operations at Headquarters Strike Command, just weeks before 9/11. This placed him at the heart of air planning in support of operations.

“After 9/11, my life changed, because the Royal Air Force was involved in Afghanistan and then in Iraq,” reflects Gray. “I was at the centre of planning for providing the communications and IT so that the RAF could operate away from the UK. It was busy, but also a logical conclusion to the courses and experience I had up to that point.”

While he’s not working, he likes to build and fix things. He and his wife live in an old house which they’ve renovated and rebuilt. What Gray really enjoys is being outdoors walking and fishing.

“Mending things; I need to be doing things. I bought a 1934 MG sports car while in the US. It was in packing crates when I bought it, so I rebuilt it and sold it when I returned to the UK, to buy a slightly newer old car – a 1977 MGB.”

An upbeat person, his advice for anyone looking to build a career in this field is to come in with passion and understand the moving parts, how they impact you and your customer.

“I worked for 31 years in the Royal Air Force and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I never had a bad job, and have had lots of cracking and memorable experiences.”