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Reach
Issue 8 2015
A faultless performance
T
he NATO 2014 Summit that
took place in September 2014
was the first NATO summit to
be held in Wales, and the first in the
UK since 1990. The venue hosting
the Summit was the Celtic Manor
Resort in Newport, with a number
of evening events in Swansea and
Cardiff. The event also marked the
65th anniversary of NATO.
On 4th and 5th September 2014,
an unprecedented 67 heads of state
from across the NATO alliance,
including Barack Obama (USA),
Angela Merkel (Germany), and
François Hollande (France), arrived
in Wales for the NATO 2014 Summit.
The Celtic Manor Resort situated
on the outskirts of Newport played
host to the majority of the working
meetings, with other events taking
place in Cardiff and Swansea. On the
agenda was the rise of the Islamic
State (IS) in the Middle East, as well
as ongoing disputes between Ukraine
and Russia.
Codenamed Ismay, the security
operation that supported the Summit
was the largest police event ever
managed in Wales. With visitors
staying in hotels across the region,
the total area affected by the
summit extended from Gloucester
in the north to Bristol in the south,
and from Swansea in the west to
Swindon in the east.
Airwave established a dedicated
team to manage the communications
services for the event. The 80-strong
team included individuals from all
aspects of the business such as
commercial, network design, delivery
and various support elements to
ensure the success of the event. Led
by two event managers, Airwave
provided support to the Police
Silver Command unit in charge
of the event’s security in Cardiff.
Working together to coordinate the
event, the event managers were the
liaison point between Airwave, the
emergency services and the Ismay
event manager. Within Airwave, the
event managers were supported
by dedicated field engineering and
Network Management Centre (NMC)
teams and third-line support.
Airwave set up two end user
engagement sites to provide training
and support to the officers from the
43 police forces providing mutual aid.
With 1,500 officers from Gwent
& South Wales supported by an
additional 8,000 police from other
NATO 2014 Summit numbers
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150 visiting dignitaries – including an
unprecedented 67 heads of state
»
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10,000 staff
»
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2,000 media
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1,500 officers from Gwent & South Wales
»
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8,000 police from other British forces
providing mutual aid
»
»
600+ police motorbikes
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Prime Minister David Cameron welcome US President Barack Obama to the Summit
© NATO
