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Maj. Heath Holt assists Maj. Jonathon Britton with his protective suit during a training session for soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment on Tuesday at Fort Bliss. The unit is training for an anticipated deployment to Africa.
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All U.S. military personnel, including about 70 Fort Bliss soldiers, who are deployed to West Africa as part of the U.S. effort to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus will be required to undergo a 21-day monitoring period once they return from their mission, U.S. officials said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel approved an order Wednesday to place "all U.S. military service members returning from Ebola response efforts in West Africa into a 21-day controlled monitoring regimen," Department of Defense officials said in a statement.

REPORTER
Aaron Martinez

This past weekend, about 70 Fort Bliss soldiers, along with food, water and military equipment, deployed from Biggs Army Field to deliver supplies and provide aid to Liberia and other parts of West Africa as part of Operation United Assistance. The operation is a U.S. military mission to provide medical, logistical and security support to countries affected the hardest by the Ebola outbreak.

An additional 280 Fort Bliss soldiers are expected to deploy to West Africa by mid-November, said Lt. Col. Lee Peters, a spokesman for Fort Bliss. The soldiers are expected to stay in Liberia and the surrounding areas for about nine months.

The order approved by the Department of Defense was not unexpected, Peters said.

"We had briefed all our soldiers on the possibility that you might have to undergo some enhanced monitoring when you came back," Peters said. "So basically what the secretary of defense has confirmed is that right now anyone who is returning in support of the operation (United Assistance) will be put under a 21-day monitoring situation, but that is no different than what we told the soldiers to expect when they were deployed."

As of now, the exact details on what the 21-day monitoring will include for the Fort Bliss soldiers is still being worked out. Department of Defense officials said Hagel has directed the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop an implementation plan for the controlled monitoring and to conduct a review of the monitoring within 45 days.

"The secretary has also directed that the Joint Chiefs develop, for his review within 15 days, a detailed implementation plan for how this controlled monitoring will be applied across the force that takes into account the size and scope of the logistics required for this effort," Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement. "In addition, the secretary directed that the Joint Chiefs conduct a review of this new regimen within 45 days from now. This review will offer a recommendation on whether or not such controlled monitoring should continue based on what we learn and observe from the initial waves of personnel returning from Operation United Assistance."

Peters said to his understanding, soldiers currently at a U.S. military base in Italy who have just come back from West Africa are being separated from the general population for 21-days and tested daily for any illnesses or symptoms of Ebola.

"The group of soldiers that are currently returning back to Italy are currently undergoing this process," Peters said. "They (the Defense Department) are going to review that to see how it worked, how's it going and to see if they have to keep it in place. We are expecting our guys (Fort Bliss soldiers) to be gone upwards of nine months, so by the time they get back, I'm sure there will be a solid system in place for them."

The role Fort Bliss soldiers will play in Operation United Assistance is one of helping transport crews and equipment across Liberia and to different areas in West Africa. Peters said that the Fort Bliss soldiers will be at little risk of being exposed to Ebola.

"The soldiers will have zero to minimal contact with the local population and zero contact with anyone contagious or symptomatic of Ebola," Peters said. "Now with that being said, we all know nothing is an absolute zero in the world we operate in, but it is our understanding that they will not have any contact with anyone contagious or symptomatic of Ebola. Therefore, their risk of exposure to Ebola is almost zero."

The 21-day monitoring period follows guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the CDC, "twenty-one days is the longest time it can take from the time a person is infected with Ebola until that person has symptoms of Ebola."

According to the World Health Organization, about 10,141 cases of Ebola have been reported in West Africa, with almost 5,000 people dying due to the virus.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at 546-6249. The Associated Press contributed to this report.