Army will need two years to recover from Olympics, says chief planner

Drafting in the Army to boost security operations at London 2012 will set the military back two years, according to the chief planner for the Games. 

Troops called in to bolster the private security firm G4S were deployed at short notice, disrupting their normal duties to help guard Olympic venues.

Now that the Games are over, the forces' chief planner, Wing Commander Peter Daulby, said it will take two years for the Army to return to normal.

He said the role of the 18,000 members of the armed forces demonstrated how necessary the military was in civil emergencies.

"It just shows you the dangers of pulling the military down. I am sure that there are some people who think that if we are a smaller military power we will be less likely to get involved in international operations," he told the Guardian.

"If we shrink the military, do we really understand what we are losing? Look at the speed with which we pushed up the throttle. It proves the military offers the country a huge amount of resilience."

The number of soldiers needed to help run the Olympics increased from 5,000 to 18,000 after it emerged G4S had failed to recruit enough staff.
Yesterday, it was reported police and soldiers who helped guard the Games would get special commemorative coins to recognise their contribution.
Troops were used to carry out the airport-style checks at the entrance to venues including the Olympic Stadium.
"We were originally planning to provide niche capabilities," Wing Commander Daulby added.
"When the requirement for venue security was doubled, that was a bit of a game changer. We had to generate 18,000 people. That does not mean that there are 18,000 spare people. It means that the government has prioritised [the Olympics].
"It will take two years to recover from this, to get back to normal, to get everything back into kilter. You can't expect them to go back to normal routine very easily."

Asian Defence News