101st Airborne ready for war on Ebola

[riverwalker]

Operation United Assistance.


http://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/local/fort-campbell/2014/10/14/fort-campbell-st-airborne-ready-war-ebola/17273599/

At Fort Campbell, 101st Airborne ready for war on Ebola

'If you want it done, ask the 101' was the battle cry uttered at Fort Campbell on Tuesday as the 101st Airborne prepared to go to war against the Ebola virus in West Africa

'What can we do?'

In his remarks following the casing of the colors, a ceremony that means deployment is imminent, 101st Airborne Division commander Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky said people keep asking him why the division is being sent and what his troops can possibly do to contain a disease that has now reached into multiple countries, including the U.S.

"I tell them," he said, "we provide a number of capabilities that no one else in the world can provide.

"We're going to bring in construction engineers and equipment to build Ebola treatment units quickly... Our medical professionals will train 500 local health care workers a week to educate the local population on Ebola... We will also provide the capability to resupply critical infrastructure to continue Ebola treatment and prevention programs until the host nation or other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can take responsibility for these sustainment efforts.

"And most importantly, our presence provides confidence that something can and will be done and we're exactly the right unit to accomplish this task."

[jen63]

1. Thanks!

Navy Seabees there already preparing for infrastructure. This Navy mom likes it when we're helping and not hurting. K&R for our troops!

[riverwalker]

7. They will get it done

Since early detection and treatment are the keys to containment, this is the right thing to do. It does my heart good to see this.

[CTyankee]

8. I was going to ask "what about the Seabees?"

What they did in WW2 was nothing short of incredible.

CAN DO!

[riverwalker]

9. Brits are there now too

Ebola crisis: British army medics arrive in West Africa

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29640090

[jen63]

13. They are there!!

I read in the Trident online a few weeks ago.

[CTyankee]

14. I once dated an officer in the Seabees. He was an engineer...this goes back more than a few

years...

[jen63]

15. My son is

a 3/C Midshipman at the Naval Academy, an engineering major also!

[CTyankee]

16. When the guy I dated retired (with the rank of Captain) he went to work for

Booz Allen Hamilton. It was all pretty good for him...

[jen63]

20. I was pretty ambivalent about

my kid and the military, but it was his life and his decision. I had him pegged for the Peace Corps type; he did a lot of service in high school. I told him it was up to him, but he was not gonna go in enlisted. I just hope he can keep his liberal bent, in that conservative bastion.

[CTyankee]

22. This guy had worked at the Pentagon when he was still in active duty. I can't think of a more

conservative bastion...

[jen63]

24. Oh yeah!

I'm proud of him, but I hope he does his five years and gets out. I think he's thinking that way too. The world is becoming an ugly place and I want my kid alive and doing something good for humanity.

[CTyankee]

28. best of luck to you, jen, and your son.

Sounds like he'll be fine. My uncle went to West Point and was career army and in retirement taught math. He was a lifelong liberal.

I'm not so quick to judge any more...

[jen63]

29. That makes me feel better!

Thank you

[gratuitous]

2. Maybe they can help

But considering the United States' reputation in some areas of the globe, don't be too surprised if the putative beneficiaries of this operation say, "Thanks, but no thanks." Our intelligence services have used medical missions as fronts for spying in Pakistan and other countries - a brilliant strategy, to be sure - and it may just torpedo our credibility to set up treatment units and supply health care workers.

Our military may be exactly the wrong unit to accomplish the task. And it's our own fault.

[magical thyme]

3. the infected countries are begging us for help. they need infrastructure

WHO says they need to be able to isolate 70% of cases to stop the spread. At the current rate of growth, that's a lot of people that need to be isolated within the next few weeks.

Luckily other countries are sending medical staff, because infrastructure won't help without the staff to care for the patients.

[kestrel91316]

10. Liberia is welcoming us with open arms. We have very good relations with them.

Troops are ALREADY THERE and building hospitals. 101st are replacements and increased numbers.

The locals are telling us where they need hospitals. We are saying yes sir and doing it. They are not helpless little primitives living in mud huts with no education.

[malthaussen]

4. Unconvincing, IMO.

Not that it matters much, except that in the court of public opinion, sending a combat HQ to the area conveys the impression that a combat operation is being undertaken, which provides a rich field for sarcastic commentary.

Why an engineering HQ and a general hospital couldn't accomplish the same missions is a question he doesn't address. It's particularly odd in that the Corps of Engineers have long been used in civil aid programs, and the staff experience is obviously going to be drawn from them and medical personnel, not combat personnel. Obviously the div HQ is being used as a logistical base and staff clearinghouse, and it is of note that the US Army has the flexibility for this to be accomplished. But somehow I doubt that this particular div HQ is any more suitable for the mission than another would be.

-- Mal

[msanthrope]

11. Because we need to protect the engineers and the medical staff.

AQAP and its venomous offspring are all over Africa.

[Recursion]

17. Those engineers have a bad habit of "needing to eat" and "having to take a piss"

not to mention "not wanting to die of Malaria". All of those (except possibly taking a piss) require more capabilities than an Engineering battalion has.

(On that note, does the Army have a full engineering regiment now, or is it still battalions?)

[HereSince1628]

21. The US Army engineers have a problem pissing?

Only when the clap is epidemic!

[kentuck]

5. If there is anyway to make a situation worse...

We can always send incthe Marines.

[KingCharlemagne]

6. They did such a good job rebuilding Iraq. /sarcasm/

[jwirr]

19. Wasn't that Helliburton that was rebuilding Iraq?

[KingCharlemagne]

23. I hold the U.S. military chiefly responsible for the ongoing disaster that is Iraq, after

noting that they were acting at the behest of war criminals Bush, Cheney and their civilian Junta.

They were the Occupation for 5 years and they left Iraq in far worse shape than they found it.

Not sure how Halliburton fits in to that tawdry spectacle.

[jwirr]

25. All I remember is that while this was all happening we were talking about how a bunch of

corporations were contracted to build schools, fix the energy system and other "rebuild" ideas. This was all those no-bid contracts. Halliburton, Bechtel and others were mentioned.

[KingCharlemagne]

26. It's all faded into one giant blur of a cluster-f*ck in my mind. But the U.S.

military was formally granted 'occupying power' status by the U.N., IIRC.

Ricardo Sanchez, David Petraeus and others whose names I've now forgotten should have been cashiered out of the service for the number they did on Iraq. They did it in all of our names, more's the pity. Forever will the people of the U.S. be linked to the ongoing catastrophe that is Iraq.

[jwirr]

27. I agree with you on this. We have failed to do much of anything in the ME but destroy anything we

touch. Hopefully this will be different. We are supposed to be helping to stop an epidemic.

[Duer 157099]

12. Really unfortunate juxtaposition of words

Will no doubt make for interesting headlines and more confusion

[jwirr]

18. Uncle (Korea) and son-in-law (ME) were both engineers in 101st. Proud of them for stepping up.

[Warpy]

30. They're gonna bomb Texas back to the stone age?

A lot of that state is so poor it's already there.