WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2014 - U.S. troops will be protected while doing their critical work in West Africa -- helping the U.S. Agency for International Development stop the deadly Ebola outbreak there -- and after they come home, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs said in a recent interview.

A group of 30 U.S. military personnel, including Marines, airmen, and soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division, board a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, Oct. 19, 2014. The service members were bound for Monrovia, Liberia, to construct medical treatment units and train health care workers as part of Operation United Assistance, DoD's support to the USAID-led, whole-of-government effort to respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer

Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, prepare equipment during Exercise Combined Resolve III at Grafenwoehr, Germany, Oct. 6. The equipment is part of the European Activity Set), a battalion-sized set of equipment pre-positioned on the Grafenwoehr Training Area to outfit and support U.S. Army forces rotating to Europe for training and contingency missions. The 1st Cav currently serves as the Army's Regionally Aligned Force in support of the U.S. European Command. Combined Resolve III is a U.S. Army Europe-led, multinational exercise at the Joint Multinational Training Command's Hohenfels and Grafenwoehr Training Areas focused on maintaining and enhancing interoperability during unified land operations in a decisive action training environment. (Photo by Gertrud Zach)