As part of the Academy’s Personal Development programme, we welcomed Dr Peter Lee to the Academy on the 12^th of March. Dr Lee is Principle Lecturer in Ethics and Political Theory at the University of Portsmouth as well as Assistant director for Academic Support Services at the Royal Air Force College at Cranwell.

Talking to an Audience of students from Yr9-13 Dr Lee,  an expert in the ethics of the use of unmanned drone aircraft in warfare, explored the ethical issues around the use of drones in the conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. With these Reaper aircraft being controlled from RAF Waddington, but being deployed thousands of miles away in conflict areas, Dr Lee explained how the drones were used , the rules surrounding deployment of weapons and the ethical and moral issues that are considered by pilots and commanders on a daily basis.

The visit, facilitated by a  School Governors with Links to the RAF, also included an intelligence briefing on the current state of the conflict in the middle East and the impact of the IS insurgency from an intelligence officer attached to the Reaper Squadron at Waddington.

Following on from the visit, Dr Lee will be working with a group of 15 Gifted Yr10 students to  exploring these issues in greater detail.