Hammond praises military Olympics security effort
The contribution of the Armed Forces to the Olympics security effort was today praised by Defence Secretary Philip Hammond who toured a military accommodation facility in East London.
Joined by General Sir Nick Parker, Standing Joint Commander (UK), Mr Hammond visited Tobacco Dock where more than 2,000 Service personnel will be accommodated during their Olympics deployment.
General Parker and Mr Hammond met military logistics personnel and troops recently arrived at Tobacco Dock, a Grade 1 listed exhibition centre in Wapping.
Personnel started to deploy to the site this week, after an agreement with Tobacco Dock Venue Limited was struck, and have been working around the clock to set up catering, sleeping and sanitation facilities for those military personnel who will be staying there.
Large numbers of personnel are also arriving throughout today.
Mr Hammond said:
We are making every effort to make Tobacco Dock as comfortable for our people as possible, and to get this site into a state where catering, sleeping and sanitation facilities are in place in a short space of time is nothing short of impressive.
Work is under way to ensure that there will be access to sufficient rest and recreational facilities, including gym equipment and Wi-Fi.
Our Armed Forces are used to short-notice deployments and dealing with the unexpected which is why I am confident they will do a superb job in assisting in the provision of security for the world’s largest sporting event. All of them deserve our thanks and appreciation.
General Parker said:
Personnel from across all three Armed Forces are now knuckling down to fulfil their part in delivering a safe and secure Olympic Games.
At Tobacco Dock personnel are now arriving to get on with the venue security tasks they have been set. I am confident that this venue affords troops the standard of accommodation and level of comfort our people require to do a good job.
I would like to thank Tower Hamlets Council and Tobacco Dock’s owners for the tremendous support they have given us in making this happen in short order.
Running the Tobacco Dock site to accommodate such a large number of personnel is a huge task and includes the provision of 3,000 camp cots and pillows, 1,500 sets of uniforms being laundered daily, 500 litres of kerosene gas a day to power the kitchens, and 50 chefs to support the kitchens.
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