FORT HOOD, Texas (Nov. 18, 2014) -- Soldiers and families of the 36th Engineer Brigade, gathered in the brigade's conference room to participate in a virtual town hall meeting hosted by Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky, Joint Task Force United Assistance commander from his headquarters in Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday.
During the conference, Volesky took questions from people gathered at multiple Army installations, including Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Carson, Colorado and Fort Eustis, Virginia.
Volesky said the morale of the troops was high, and they were very focused on their mission at hand.
"Right now, our troops are engaged in their tasks of building Ebola treatment facilities, training Liberian medical personnel and understand that we're here to help Liberia in their time of need," said Volesky.
Volesky assured family members their Soldiers were taking safety precautions against contracting Ebola, as well as other illnesses common to Liberia.
"Our troops are being monitored by healthcare professionals, and are taking precautions to identify any potential illness as quickly as possible," said Volesky. "Every Service member has his or her temperature taken twice a day, and if they were to show any of the symptoms of Ebola or malaria, they'd be isolated and monitored until a diagnosis was confirmed."
When asked by a concerned family member about the potential for their Service member to come into to contact with an infected individual, Volesky responded by saying only those trained to handle those situations were permitted to have any contact with the locals.
"Soldiers leaving the installations have a very specific task and purpose, and are supervised during these missions" said Volesky. "I'm holding every leader personally accountable for the safety of their Soldiers, and they must ensure they have all necessary personal protective equipment in case they identify a potential infected individual."
As more and more concerns were addressed, an overwhelming concern about Service members potentially bringing the Ebola Virus to the U.S. was expressed by many.
"I have the safety of our Soldiers and the citizens of U.S. uppermost in my mind," said Volesky. "All returning Service members will be held for 21 days for monitoring before they will be allowed to reintegrate with the local population."
Volesky went on to address numerous issues common with deployments such as mail distribution and financial concerns, saying the mail system is in the works and that as it is a humanitarian mission and not a combat mission, the Service members will receive family separation pay, but not be entitled to tax exemption.
Sharon Padgett, the spouse of Command Sgt. Maj. Douglas S. Padgett, the senior enlisted adviser for the 36th Engineer Brigade, said she was grateful for the chance to participate in the meeting, and felt like Volesky put to rest many concerns the people of Fort Hood may have had.
"I think this was very informative," said Padgett. "It was very reassuring to hear that our Soldiers were being well taken care of, and that there's a plan in place to help as the Soldiers redeploy back."
Related Links:
U.S. Army news, information about Army's response to Ebola threat
Army sets 21-day quarantine for Soldiers leaving West Africa
Dempsey, Battaglia explain rationale for post-Africa deployment Ebola Virus Disease monitoring
Controlled monitoring procedures, post-deployment housing location identified for Germany
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