Armed Forces Day: Our People, Their Stories

At Leidos, Armed Forces Day transcends mere reflection; it is an opportunity to honour the narratives that have shaped our people and are integral to our company's mission. 

Whether through generations of family service or years in uniform, these experiences weave a shared thread of resilience, leadership, and quiet commitment that permeates our work in national defence.

Family Legacy

For many, these stories began long before their own careers. 

Leidos employee Mike Webb, Logistics & Mission Support Delivery Director, for instance, keeps his grandfather’s Royal Airforce (RAF) ensign hanging behind him during video calls — a tribute to a WWII Bomber Command veteran who was shot down multiple times and marked Victory in Europe (VE) Day not with celebration, but with silent reflection. This quiet reverence has shaped Mike’s approach to military deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and continues to ground his work today.

Courageous stories also echo through Security Manager Joanna Jackson’s family. Her great-grandfather, Les Laws, once led the largest successful Allied escape from a Prisoner-of-War (POW) camp in Slovenia. His leadership and perseverance under extreme pressure continue to inspire Joanna’s work in Leidos, ensuring the safety and security of the organisation's people, operations and assets.  

For Readiness Manager Ryan Byrne, military values are both legacy and lived experience. His father-in-law served at Monte Cassino, and Ryan himself was deployed during his own Army career.

Director of Logistics Eddie Hutton-Fellowes carries forward a complex but strong military legacy. She had an extensive military career and is part of a family that served across multiple generations. This included relatives who fought on opposing sides of WWII, both English and German. Eddie often reflects on the shared cost of conflict and channels that awareness and experience into youth volunteering, helping instil a spirit of service in the next generation.

Subcontracts Manager Kate Palmer’s grandfather, born in what is now western Ukraine, endured the upheaval of 20th-Century conflict and displacement. Her story has taken on even deeper meaning considering today’s war in Ukraine, underscoring the personal connections that people have to global events and their roles within Leidos supporting the United Kingdom military. 

Personal Service

Many veterans feel a strong calling to serve at a young age. 

Connor Price was 16, when he joined the Army Foundation College Harrogate and went on to serve with the Rifles in Afghanistan and beyond. His work modernising Joint Fires capabilities helped shape the eventual Ranger Regiment. Today, as a Programme Manager at Leidos, he continues to lead high-impact defence projects with the same clarity of mission.

Dan Marshall started his military journey at 19 and was inspired by his grandfather’s service in the Royal Navy and his role in the Russian Arctic convoys in WWII. Dan believes strongly in upholding the values of duty, honour, and loyalty they both acquired during their time in service into his life and work within the logistics division at Leidos.      

Retired Lt. Col. Stuart Irvine brings decades of military service, from Sierra Leone to COVID-19 response in Northern Ireland, to his role as Medical Support Manager at Leidos, working as an embed within the customer headquarters to ensure timely provision of medical commodities for the Military of Defence worldwide.

Roy Booth, who joined the RAF at 16, brings the curiosity and technical skill of a lifelong engineer — from ‘Front line Phantoms’ to software at Leidos — proving that the spirit of service never truly retires.

Miles Hutton, vice president and chief growth officer at Leidos, is a Navy veteran whose father served in the Army towards the end of national service, both his father and his uncle were Commandos in WWII. He lives a mile away from where the Royal Marines used to have barracks in Portsmouth on the seafront at Eastney.  

“Maintenance of the U.K. Military Capability and the Armed Forces is close to all our hearts at Leidos. We have a high percentage of veterans in the U.K. workforce, who all seek to support their colleagues, we use that motivation to inspire innovative and differentiated approaches to defence’s difficult challenges,” Miles said. 

On this Armed Forces Day, we at Leidos proudly recognise not just those in uniform today, but those who have served and the people behind the mission—whose collective experiences, values, and stories continue to shape everything we do.