Edward is recently retired senior RAF officer (Air Marshal/3*) whose early years were spent as a fast-jet pilot, but whose later career in higher command positions has seen him specialise in defence policy, the command and management of military operations, and, based in the Ministry of Defence, cross-government coordination on a range of portfolios, including crisis management duties via COBR meetings. Amongst them were the the Director General of Joint Force Development and the Defence Academy (DG JFD), the director of military operations (ACDS(Ops)), and the effective deputy chief of the RAF in MOD (ACAS). He has been on the boards of the RAF, CAA, and Defence Nuclear Enterprise. He is a trustee of the Imperial War Museum.