Lord Coe thanks armed forces for helping to provide security at the Olympic Games
The armed forces and their involvement in London 2012 have been one of the “defining features” of the Olympics, Lord Coe said today.
The temporary camp, built by G4S on a site decided by Locog, houses around 3,500 troops drafted in to help provide security at the Games. It is also the base for around 300 G4S staff.
Lord Coe visited the site this morning, meeting troops from all three services who have been carrying out different roles at the Olympic Park and ExCeL Centre.
“The reason I’m here is really out of gratitude,” he said, “to thank those guys for stepping in, admittedly quite late in the day and also to thank their families who I know have possibly had some of their summer plans disrupted.
“I really genuinely think that when we look back at these Games one of the defining features will be the involvement and the commitment of our armed services.
“They’ve discharged their duties with professionalism, with humour, and with grace, and that has really gone noticed in pretty much every corner of this project.”
Some military personnel have complained that their involvement in the Olympics is a thankless task after they were drafted in at short notice in reaction to the G4S scandal.
Some said they had little access to watch events and complained about poor living conditions, especially at Tobacco Dock in east London.
Today Lord Coe and the general toured Hainault’s temporary camp, visiting its catering facilities, gym and welfare tent, meeting troops along the way.
