UK Defence Secretary Philip Hammond says reserves may be called for Olympics
The Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom, Philip Hammond, said in a statement today that an estimated number of 2,100 military reserve personnel will most likely be called in to assist with the security of the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games.
With the additional amount of the reserve security force, the total number of military personnel present at the security of the Olympic Games that start from July 27 will be 13,500. This is not the total number of security personnel that will deployed during
the Olympic Games that will last till August 12. The net amount of security personnel present at the international sporting event that is coming to the capital of England for the third time in the city’s history is 23,700. This amount is inclusive of military
personnel, private security guards as well as volunteers that make up a figure of 3,000.
Hammond commented on the security at the Olympic Games in the following manner, “Both the reservist and overall defence contribution is on a similar scale to that deployed by other nations at recent Olympic Games and will contribute to ensuring a safe, secure
and enjoyable 2012 Olympics.”
The overall Olympic Games budget experienced a significant increase last year in December the major portion of which was due to an increased amount of security required at the Games. The security budget that was initially allocated to the Games amounted
to 282 million pounds but this later reached a figure of 553 million pounds.
The significant increase that was seen in the security budget was attributed to the fact that there is an anticipated terror threat during the time that the Olympic Games are in progress in the capital of England. For the purpose of making the Games a success,
the Olympics security will be facilitated by warplanes, two navy ships as well as surface to air missiles.
Interestingly, the amount of military security that will be deployed at the Olympic Games is a lot more than is currently present in Afghanistan. The United Kingdom has a total of 9,500 military personnel stationed in Afghanistan while the reserves make
up 600.
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