101st Airborne Cases Colors After Liberia Mission

101st Airborne Division cases colors, heads home after successful mission in Liberia

Photo Credit: Spc. Rashene Mincy Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Harris, platoon sergeant for 2nd Platoon, Division Signal Company, takes charge of the formation from Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky, commanding general of the Joint Forces Command - United Assistance and 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), at the end of the 101st's color casing ceremony held at the Barclay Training Center, Monrovia, Liberia, Feb. 26, 2015.

"The Joint Forces Command worked with our Armed Forces of Liberia partners in building and overseeing constructions of ETUs," Volseky said.

The command built and supported 17 ETUs throughout Liberia, facilities which allowed for a more swift isolation and treatment of Ebola patients.

Building the ETUs was Task Force Rugged, a team led by the 36th Engineer Brigade based out of Fort Hood, Texas, along with the 615th Engineer Company (Horizontal), based out of Fort Carson, Colorado. The 902nd Engineer Battalion, out of Grafenwoehr, Germany, and the 161st engineer Support Company of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, also built the facilities.

Along with construction, Task Force Rugged also improved roads critical to the transportation of equipment and personnel to the ETUs, camps and logistical focus points including airports and sea ports.

The Iron Knights cased their colors Feb. 25, and are steadily redeploying their Soldiers back to Fort Bliss.

Fort Hood Soldier Found Dead Back From Liberia

UODATE April 16, 2015
Soldier Death Feared Ebola-Related Blamed On Synthetic Pot

UPDATE from KEYE News
Jan. 13, 3 p.m. UPDATE: Fort Hood officials have released the name of the soldier who was found dead Tuesday in his off-post residence in Killeen. Officials say Spc. Kendrick Vernell Sneed, 24, whose home of record is listed as Bossier City, Louisiana, entered active-duty service in June 2009 as automated logistics specialist.

He was assigned to 62nd Engineer Company, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood, since June 2012. Officials say he had helped construct an Ebola treatment camp in Liberia and came back last week, but he was not exposed to patients. Tests had shown he didn't have Ebola. The incident remains under investigation by the Killeen Police Department.

Fort Hood soldier’s death prompts HAZMAT response
KXAN News
By Patrick Tolbert
Published: January 13, 2015

KILLEEN, Texas (KXAN) – HAZMAT crews have been called to a Killeen home after the body of a soldier who was deployed to West Africa was found Tuesday morning in Killeen.

According to KXXV-TV, the soldier’s body was found in the 3300 block of Cantabrian Drive and Fort Hood officials confirm the soldier just returned from West Africa.

Killeen Police told KXXV the cause of death is unknown and that the soldier’s body has been sent to Dallas for an autopsy.

The soldier returned from Liberia in early January. Soldiers returning from West Africa are supposed to be in quarantine for 21 days after returning to the U.S. However, Fort Hood Officials said this soldier was home on emergency leave and was “self-monitoring himself twice-a-day and report his status to medical officials.”
read more here

Soldiers Fighting Ebola Coming Home to Quarantine

Will they get hazardous pay for this?

ARMY TO QUARANTINE TROOPS WHO WERE FIGHTING EBOLA
ABC News 7 Los Angeles
Luis Martinez
October 27, 2014

The Army has decided that troops returning from deployments to Liberia should be quarantined so they can be monitored for possible exposure to the Ebola virus and a general was among the first people affected.

The order immediately affected up to a dozen soldiers who returned to their home base in Italy this weekend, including Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, the former top U.S. commander in Liberia.

"Out of an abundance of caution the Army directed a small number of personnel, about a dozen, that recently returned to Italy to be monitored in a separate location at their home station of Vicenza," Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said today. "None of these individuals have shown any symptoms of exposure."

The Army later released a statement confirming that the decision was made by Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff.

"The Army Chief of Staff has directed a 21-day controlled monitoring period for all redeploying soldiers returning from Operation United Assistance," the statement said. "He has done this out of caution to ensure soldiers, family members and their surrounding communities are confident that we are taking all steps necessary to protect their health."
read more here

DoD May Deploy up to 4,000 Troops to Combat Ebola

DoD May Deploy up to 4,000 Troops to Combat Ebola
DOD News
By Jim Garamone
Defense Media Activity

FORT MEADE, Md., Oct. 3, 2014 – The Defense Department could deploy up to 4,000 service members to Liberia as part of Operation United Assistance against Ebola, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon today.

There are 205 U.S. service members in Liberia today with another 26 in neighboring Senegal. All service members are supporting the lead federal agency for American participation in the crisis -- the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel “has approved the potential deployment of up to 4,000 [service members],” Kirby said. “But I want to make one thing real clear, that that’s a potential deployment. That doesn’t mean it is going to get to that number.”

Troop deployments
The U.S. Army announced the units that will deploy to the region beginning in mid-month and running through November. With the previously announced unit deployments, this will bring the total Army commitment to about 3,200 soldiers.

More than 1,800 Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based soldiers will arrive in Liberia sometime late this month. Other soldiers will deploy from the 101st Sustainment Brigade, the 86th Combat Support Hospital of the 44th Medical Brigade, and a Military Police company from the 16th Military Police Brigade.

These units will provide medical and logistic support, as well as site security, to the Joint Task Force. Soldiers will deploy from other bases as well including,
Fort Hood, Texas
Fort Carson, Colorado
Fort Bliss, Texas
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Stewart, Georgia
Fort Benning, Georgia
Fort Eustis, Virginia
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
read more here