U.S. military faces new kind of threat with Ebola

U.S. military faces new kind of threat with
Ebola
2014-10-12 07:21
Frankfort - At Fort Campbell in Kentucky,
spouses of U.S. soldiers headed to Liberia seem
to be lingering just a bit longer than usual after
pre-deployment briefings, hungry for information
about Ebola.
For these families, the virus is raising a different
kind of anxiety than the one they have
weathered during 13 years of ground war in
Afghanistan and Iraq. They want to know how
the military can keep soldiers safe from the
epidemic, a new addition to the Army's long list
of threats.
"Ebola is a different problem set that the
division hasn't (faced) before," said Major
General Gary Volesky, who will soon head to
Liberia along with soldiers from the 101st
Airborne Division.
There are already more than 350 U.S. troops on
the ground in West Africa, mostly in Liberia,
including a handful from the 101st. That
number is set to grow exponentially in the
coming weeks as the military races to expand
Liberia's infrastructure so it can battle Ebola.
The military has already stood up a
headquarters in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, and
hopes to have a 25-bed field hospital up and
running by the middle of this month. It also
aims to quickly build up to 17 Ebola treatment
units.
Volesky said he has seen more of what he
called "stay behind dialogue" after these pre-
deployment briefings, something he encourages.
The message at Fort Campbell and at American
military bases elsewhere is that the threat from
Ebola is manageable. With the right precautions,
the risk is low. U.S. soldiers certainly will not
be treating sick Liberians and, if all goes
according to plan, they will not interact with
them either.
But there is still concern among military
families. That is something U.S. forces on the
ground say they are wrestling with, even as
they report feeling relatively safe from infection.
"I have two kids ... Of course they're worrying
about their dad," Lieutenant Colonel Scott
Sendmeyer, the chief engineer now in Monrovia,
told Reuters by phone.
"At the same time, I've shared the training that
I've received with my family ... That's the way I
(relieve) them of their fears."
The hemorrhagic fever, which has no proven
cure, has killed more than 4,000 people in West
Africa since an outbreak that began in March.
More than half the dead have been in Liberia,
where the healthcare system is still reeling from
a devastating 1989-2003 civil war.
SAFETY TRAINING
The risks of failing to contain Ebola in West
Africa have come into sharp focus in the United
States after the first patient diagnosed with the
disease on U.S. soil, Thomas Eric Duncan, died
on Wednesday.
As the Ebola threat evolves, the Pentagon has
acknowledged the size and duration of the
mission in West Africa could too. Deployments
might even top the current projection of nearly
4,000, an increase from an earlier estimate of
around 3,000.
To operate safely in Monrovia and beyond, the
Army is giving soldiers safety training, including
a course for 150 soldiers on Thursday at Fort
Campbell.
The group of soldiers carefully listened to
instructors from the U.S. Army Medical
Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, who
spelled out the dangerous of Ebola, which kills
nearly half of the people it infects.
Captain Alex Willard, who was undergoing the
training, said the West Africa mission was far
different than the kinds of operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan than many in the 101st "probably
are more comfortable with."