London 2012: Army's raw recruits may be called up to fill Olympic gap With 48,000 soldiers already committed to the Olympics, Afghanistan and elsewhere, commanders are having to search far and wide to rebuild the reserves in case of a national emergency during the Games. Personnel earmarked for possible emergency duties include up to 150 recruits from the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick. It is understood that the majority of the 2,000 troops will come from 7 Armoured Brigade and a number from 20 Armoured Brigade, which has just returned from Afghanistan. Others will come from 3 Commando Brigade but both the RAF and Royal Navy are not thought to have any personnel to spare. Instructors at Catterick have been told they could be called up along with a company of Gurkhas. Despite Army chiefs" reservations, military planners are looking at using up to six platoons, or about 150 recruits, who have completed only 26 weeks of training. The MoD strongly denied any training for Afghanistan would be affected. A ministry spokesman said: "As the Defence Secretary made clear at the weekend, should there be a requirement for additional military personnel the MoD will do whatever possible to make them available. At the present time no further requests have been received but, as people would expect, an ongoing programme of prudent planning continues.