13,500 troops to be present at London Olympics 2012
It has recently been made public that the United Kingdom plans to have a total of 13,500 military personnel at the London 2012 Olympics. The announcement was made by the defence minister of the UK, Philip Hammond.
The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has undertaken several more measures to ensure that the Games are not jeopardized in any way. In order to better protect the international sporting event, it has been decided that two Navy ships will be deployed
at the time of the Games. Along with that, the London 2012 Olympic Games will also be protected by the presence of warplanes as well as ground to air missiles.
Hammond expressed himself in the following words regarding the matter: "We want them to be secure, so that all those competing and attending can enjoy the Games for the celebration of sporting achievement and cultural celebration that it is. This defence
contribution is on a similar scale to that deployed at other recent Olympic Games and will contribute to ensuring a safe, secure and enjoyable 2012 Olympics."
Initially, it was thought that a total of 7000 troops would be enough for the task but that proved to be an under-estimation. The increase has not only been made regarding the number of troops, the overall security budget of the Olympic Games has also experienced
a rise. At first, the total security budget was £282 million but the figure has increased to £553 million. The major chunk of increase in the budget has taken place because of the added number of security personnel that are now required at the Olympic Games.
Apart from the troops that will be present at the sites, an added number of 1,000 military persons will be available for the purpose of providing support in case of a civil emergency related to the Olympic Games.
The Olympics are heading towards the city of London for the third time in its history after which London will become the first city in the world to have hosted the Games for a total of three times. The first time it was in 1908 while the second time around
it was in 1948.
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