Snips from the DoD presser on Ebola 12 Nov 2014

[nitpicker]

http://www.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=5536

Department of Defense Press Briefing via Teleconference on Operation United Assistance
(snip)

With us today by telephone the ambassador to Liberia, Ambassador Deborah Malac, the USAID DART team leader, Mr. Bill Berger, and the Operation United Assistance Joint Force Commander, Major General Gary Volesky.
(snip)

Q: Follow-up for General Volesky. How many U.S. troops are there now in Liberia? And is there a specific timetable for increasing it up to 4,000?

MAJ. GEN. VOLESKY: Yeah, Bob, we've got just under 2,200 right now. We will top out in the middle of December just short of 3,000, and that's the most we'll bring in the country.

Q: Is that -- the decision to limit it to -- did you say 3,000?

MAJ. GEN. VOLESKY: That's what -- that's what we've got. Now, when the original request for forces was created, it was larger than that. But what we found working with USAID and the government of Liberia was there's a lot of capacity here that we didn't know about before. And so that enabled us to reduce the forces that we thought we originally had to bring. And so right around 3,000 is what we're looking at, and that's really -- unlike what we normally deploy with the 101st, you know, it is heavy on engineers, it's heavy on medical providers and trainers, and then our sustainers to help sustain those Ebola treatment units.
(snip)

Q: There was a, I guess, timeline on the construction of the 17 Ebola treatment units?

MAJ. GEN. VOLESKY: Yeah, well, what we have gotten so far is the Monrovia medical unit opened just about a week ago. And as you know, that is the treatment center where we're going to -- any infected health care worker is with patients goes to, and that was, in my mind, a strategic treatment unit, because it -- it is hopefully getting the international community confidence that if they have people come to Liberia and if they get infected, there's a place for them. We opened the Tubmanburg ETU a few days ago. And that was a joint venture with both the armed forces of Liberia, who really did the majority of the work, and we provided some oversight and electrical and plumbing for them. And so those were the first two.
(snip)

So we're looking at up to 17. They're all on a glide path, so we would expect to see three or four more done before the end of the month, and then I expect all of the treatment units -- again, weather-dependent and others -- to be done before December's over.
(snip)