Page 37 - Signal Summer 2018

| RAY GAMMELL |

‘The Defence Forces are the Ultimate

Learning Machine about Life’

SIGNAL talks to Captain (ret’d) Ray
Gammell, now Group Chief People
& Performance Officer at Etihad
Aviation, about his career, business,
life and the Defence Forces.

Could you provide us with a brief overview of your all is said and done it is the ‘people’ we meet along the
Defence Forces career, including key appointments way that make the journey worth making and with this in
etc? mind I want to remember Tom Doyle, a native of Sneam
I joined the Defence Forces as an Army Cadet in 1980 and a classmate who sadly is no longer with us but is
straight out of school. At 17 years old, I was a naive but remembered always.
proud member of the 57 Cadet Class, which turned out
th
to be an ‘interesting’ mix but a very good class and we What was your career path to your current role and
remain close as a group to this day. I retired with the rank could you provide us with an overview as to what it
of Captain in 1994 having served in the Training Depot involves and what your own current business impera-
in MacDonagh Barracks, the Infantry Weapons School, tives are?
two tours of duty in Lebanon, the great privilege of being Following my departure from the Defence Forces, I
Company Commander of the 67t Cadet Class, and a joined Intel Corporation in Leixlip in a training role. A
h
posting in DFHQ in Officers Records and the fledgling, year later, I moved into Human Resources and took on
recently formed Personnel Management Section as well a leadership role in the Human Resources Development
as other duties over my 14 years of service. As I look team at a time of huge growth for Intel in Ireland. From
back from this vantage point, all of my service was there, I moved to the US and took up various senior HR
genuinely precious to me but serving overseas and being positions in Portland Oregon before returning to Europe a
responsible for a Cadet Class were particularly life chang- number of years later to a position heading up European
ing. Watching an episode of Nationwide on RTE player HR for new businesses at Intel before finally returning to
this past week in Abu Dhabi (as you do!) and seeing a the US to lead the Recruitment function globally. I left Intel
graduate from the 67 Cadet Class, Lt. Col. Neil Nolan, to move into banking where I became Chief of HR for a
th
interviewed in Lebanon made me feel very proud of the division of Royal Bank of Scotland Group which included
‘Military Machine’ and the individual role we are privileged Ulster Bank. After almost 5 years in banking, I moved to
to play from time to time, in this huge undertaking. When Abu Dhabi in the UAE, to take on the role of Chief People

| SUMMER ‘18 | | 49