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HomeNewsFort Campbell Soldiers join the fight against Ebola in Africa

Fort Campbell Soldiers join the fight against Ebola in Africa

Written by Maj. Dale Greer
JTF-PO Senegal

DAKAR, Senegal Fort Campbell KY - 101st Airborne DivisionAfrica -The commander of the 101st Airborne Division and more than 30 of his troops departed from Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport here on October 19th en route to Liberia, where they will join hundreds of U.S. service members engaged in the fight against Ebola in West Africa.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Gary J. Volesky, commanding general of the 101st, will take charge of the Joint Forces Command for Operation United Assistance upon arrival in Liberia, replacing U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, who will continue as commander of U.S. Army Africa.

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 are bound for Monrovia, Liberia, where U.S. troops will construct medical treatment units and train health care workers as part of Operation United Assistance, the U.S. Agency for International Development-led, whole-of-government effort to respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. (Maj. Dale Greer/U.S. Air National Guard)
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 are bound for Monrovia, Liberia, where U.S. troops will construct medical treatment units and train health care workers as part of Operation United Assistance, the U.S. Agency for International Development-led, whole-of-government effort to respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. (Maj. Dale Greer/U.S. Air National Guard)

“Operation United Assistance is a critical mission,” Volesky said. “We will coordinate all of the Department of Defense resources in Liberia in support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. government’s lead agency in this mission, and the government of Liberia to contain the Ebola virus and, ultimately, save lives.

”The Army is sending approximately 700 Soldiers from the 101st as part of the effort, including members of the division headquarters staff, sustainment brigade, combat support hospital and military police battalion, according to Volesky. Another 700 troops will be deployed from multiple engineering units to build 17 100-bed medical treatment units and a 25-bed hospital.

Aerial porters from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group load a pallet of red blood cells and frozen plasma onto a C-130 Hercules aircraft from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Oct. 10, 2014, at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal. The aerial porters are part of Joint Task Force-Port Opening Sengal, an air cargo hub that’s funneling humanitarian supplies and equipment into West Africa in support of Operation United Assistance, the U.S. Agency for International Development-led, whole-of-government effort to respond to the Ebola outbreak there. (Maj. Dale Greer/U.S. Air National Guard)
Aerial porters from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group load a pallet of red blood cells and frozen plasma onto a C-130 Hercules aircraft from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Oct. 10, 2014, at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal. The aerial porters are part of Joint Task Force-Port Opening Sengal, an air cargo hub that’s funneling humanitarian supplies and equipment into West Africa in support of Operation United Assistance, the U.S. Agency for International Development-led, whole-of-government effort to respond to the Ebola outbreak there. (Maj. Dale Greer/U.S. Air National Guard)

Volesky’s flight to Liberia was supported by Joint Task Force-Port Opening Senegal, an Intermediate Staging Base that stood up operations here October 5th. The JTF-PO’s mission is to funnel humanitarian aid and military support into West Africa in support of Operation United Assistance, according to Air Force Col. David Mounkes, the unit’s commander.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the professionalism and unique capability that all the members of our United States Transportation Command JTF-PO team have exhibited in this dynamic and challenging environment,” said Mounkes, a Kentucky Air National Guardsman. “JTF-PO Senegal stands ready to continue supporting the international response and humanitarian aid the United States and partner nations are bringing to the effort to alleviate human suffering and contain the spread of Ebola.”

The JTF-PO is staffed by more than 70 Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group, based in Louisville. The Kentucky troops are augmented by seven active-duty Airmen from Travis Air Force Base, California, and Joint Base Maguire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

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