one to watch... The British military

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Members of the British military's Royal Artillery regiment are silhouetted as they stand near a Rapier air defence system during a media event ahead of a training exercise designed to test military procedures prior to the Olympic period in Blackheath, London, Thursday, May 3, 2012. Britain�s military is carrying out security tests in London ahead of the Olympics including the deployment of one weapon it hopes it never has to use. Ground-to-air missile systems are being considered for the games, a move the government has defended as a �last resort� measure of security and one that has been rolled out at previous Olympics. Those missiles can be used to target large aircraft and fend off a 9/11-style attack. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) (CP)

So exactly how many soldiers does it take to provide security at the upcoming London Olympics?

Turns out new marching orders for the Games, which begin in a fortnight, is about 7,000 more troops than Britannia currently has deployed in Afghanistan.

For those of you scoring at home, the armed forces were already tasked with providing up to 13,500 personnel for Olympic duty. But 3,500 extra troops are on now on standby to back up the private security firm G4S, meaning there could be 17,000 members of the armed forces standing on guard in London and the surrounding venues.

Between the surface-to-air missiles locked and loaded around the English capital, the navy's largest warship stationed in the Thames and fighter jets ready to scramble, it should make for an interesting Olympics.

Let the Games begin.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 14, 2012 J2