Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Pentagon To Send 1000+ More Troops To Ebolaville, Committment Now 18+ Months





{h/t to WRSA for the story link}

Now that mid-terms are history, the Pentagon has let slip that we're sending another 1000 troops, and the six eight ten week commitment is being increased to at least 18 months, rotating in new groups every 6 months, through spring of 2016.

(BOHICA Liberia) --- The Pentagon said Friday it has designated five military bases inside the U.S. and two in Europe as quarantine areas for troops returning from the Ebola-response mission in West Africa.
Servicemembers will be isolated for 21 days at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Hood and Fort Bliss, Texas; and Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia to check for symptoms of the deadly virus, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said. Army garrisons in Baumholder, Germany, and Vicenza, Italy, will also be quarantine sites.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the three-week quarantines late last month for troops who spend time on the ground as part of the military’s Operation United Assistance, which is supporting U.S. humanitarian aid efforts in hard-hit East Africa countries where nearly 5,000 have died.
Kirby said the quarantine sites have facilities that can offer twice daily medical checks for the returning troops and were named as the military fine-tunes its response to the virus, which began in September.
Plans finalized Friday allow quarantine exemptions for servicemembers who travel through Africa briefly and have limited contact with people there, such as staff traveling with senior officials who are only there for a day or two, according to The Associated Press.
Under the new plans, civilians in the fight against Ebola will now be able to get medical treatment on military bases and free treatment from hospitals in the United States, Kirby said.
Defense Department personnel returning to Germany from Ebola-related missions in West Africa will first be screened upon touching down at Ramstein Airbase, according to the Army’s 21st Theater Sustainment Command.
Anyone showing symptoms that could potentially be related to Ebola, to include a fever equal to or greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, will be transferred to a secure facility at nearby Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for additional testing, the 21st TSC stated.
Otherwise, troops not showing symptoms will spend the 21-day controlled monitoring period at one of four barracks-style buildings on Smith Barracks in Baumholder.
Use of Smith Barracks, however, is contingent upon host nation approval, the command said in a news release.
“The U.S. government is coordinating these measures with host nation officials,” the 21st TSC stated in a release.
More than 1,900 Defense Department personnel are deployed to Africa, with the majority in Liberia and small contingent in Senegal, and that number could climb to 4,000.
The military’s newly built Monrovia Medical Unit in Liberia was set to open Saturday and will care for doctors and other health care workers fighting the dangerous disease. The U.S. hopes the 25-bed facility will encourage and reassure medical assistance.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey has said the military mission will probably last 18 months, and feature six-month rotations for military personnel.
The epidemic is the largest outbreak in history and cases have appeared in the United States for the first time. The World Health Organization released new figures Friday showing the number of Ebola cases climbed to 13,268 with 4,960 reported deaths.
The military also announced Friday that it will add another 30 personnel to its rapid-response team created last month to help U.S. civilian health care providers in the event of more domestic Ebola cases. They begin training in Texas on Nov. 17 and will soon join the existing 30-person team, Kirby said.

So the commitment grows and grows, and we've now volunt-told two allies that we'll be using them as Ebola tampons to protect ourselves, and the troops, after 6 weeks' work, are about to open the first teeny weenie 25-bed facility, with only 17 100-bed facilities to go, and no staff available to man any of them.

And the Invisible Ebola Strike Force now entering into its third week of a 7-day training rotation, will soon be augmented by a second untrained, wholly invisible Ebola Strike Force.

And the troops who thought they might be done once they cobble together some Ebola Treatment Centers just found out via Stars And Stripes that they'll now be living in Ebolaville until April, when another batch of 4000 unlucky bastards handpicked professionals will draw the short straw for half a year in Biowar Hell.

"Well that's great! That's just fucking great, man! Now what the fuck are we supposed to do? We're in some real pretty shit now, man! That's it. Game over, man. Game over!"



If anyone was wondering, the phone number for your congresshole is:
(202) 225-3121
Your two senators may be reached at
(202) 224-3121

Both of those are the respective US Capitol Switchboard numbers, who can direct you to your duly elected public servants.
Give them an earful, particularly if your own kid(s) are serving in the military.
A polite phone call to the minions letting them know how livid you are goes a lot farther than just venting, BTW. Of course, if you happen to tie the switchboards up with calls, that sends a message too.

10 comments:

A Texan said...

Unbelievable!

No, on second thought, nothing that Obola does any more is unbelievable. Stupid as shit, yes, but quite believable. Here we go again.

GamegetterII said...

E-mail your senators and congresscritters,printing out your e-,ail,or typing out an even better rant letting them know exactly what you think of them and this idiotic plan,and send it to 'em by snail mail.
I've noticed over the years that snail mail letters almost always get a response-and it's usually not one of the form letters if you made your point without cussing at 'em too much.

This plan is beyond idiocy,hell-it's beyond insanity.
Nothing we do over there is going to help when the locals hide their dead,hide their sick,and believe witch doctors are more effective at treating what ails them than modern medicine.

Napalm may be the only solution.
Exposing military personnel,and importing more Duncans,Dr. Douchenozzles and nurse MiMi's sure as hell ain't the solution.

GamegetterII said...

e-,ail should be e-mail.

Typo caused by-fat fingers/lack of typing skills.

GamegetterII said...

Aesop-

A big WTF concerning military personnel in W. Africa...

"The military will scale back its Ebola operation in Liberia, citing recent success in stopping the spread of the disease as a second Ebola outbreak was detected in neighboring Mali.

Speaking at the Pentagon Wednesday afternoon, Army Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky said that the Defense Department will now dispatch 3,000, instead of the authorized 4,000, troops to Liberia as part of the Obama administration's response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. "

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/11/12/dod_sending_fewer_troops_to_liberia_to_battle_ebola?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=*Editors%20Picks&utm_campaign=2014_EditorsPicks12%2F11RS

Miles said...

gamegetter:

Consider it that the DoD has concluded that Liberia is soon to be a writeoff and decided that exposing another 1000 troops unnecessarily isn't warranted and told Bozo to back off. They may have even added an "or else" at the end.

GamegetterII said...

Miles


Yeah,good possibility.
Or-they're just releasing conflicting shit to the media so they'll be able to cover their asses in the future.



Aesop said...

I think policy is being made there minute-to-minute, based entirely on which guy took the last phone call...

Anonymous said...

I can't seem to find B.O.H.I.C.A. Liberia on a map :-)

"Greg" said...

Aesop, you got me too... i was VERY interested to find exactly where in Liberia that the city of BOHICA was located. Apparently it is a suburb of Ebolaville!

Robin Datta said...

BOHICA is the capital of DILLIGAS.