First of Fort Bliss soldiers deploy to West Africa

The first group of Fort Bliss soldiers deployed to West Africa loaded their bags today.
The deployment is part of Operation United Assistance which is meant to help contain the spread of the Ebola virus in Liberia.

About 70 soldiers will be leaving through the weekend.
The soldiers will be making sure conditions and facilities are set for nearly 300 troops who will be arriving in late November under the direction of Major Gen. Gary Volesky.

“A lot of the soldiers are actually anticipating this deployment because they know it’s going to be a great humanitarian effort that’s going to ultimately save lives,” said Lt. Col. Lee Peters.

Peters told ABC-7 soldiers are preparing for a 24-hour flight to West Africa while crews load a C-17 aircraft with supplies.

This is the first deployment of soldiers from Fort Bliss’s 1st Armored Division.

“Ebola is going to be at a distance. In the event that we are ever faced with Ebola our guys are trained, they’ll put those (hazmat) suits on but it’s very unlikely that we’ll ever see that,” said Command Sgt. Maj. John Kolodgy.

Kolodgy told ABC-7 the deployment is part of an initial advance deployment.
The soldiers task is to prepare for the 300 soldiers expected to land in Monrovia the capital of Liberia- in the coming weeks.

The soldiers will be taking thousands of gallons of water, food, fuel and generators. The supplies are expected to last about 15 days.

Fort Bliss officials said the operation is an ordeal.

“They are going to be… flying across Liberia, taking supplies and equipment out to the areas where there are Ebola treatment units,” said Kolodgy.

The soldiers will also have other obstacles while overseas.

“There is going to be a lot of heat and a lot of humidity and our soldiers are going to be fighting mosquitoes and of course with mosquitoes they deliver malaria,” said Kolodgy.

Another danger: Terrorists or rebel threats.

“Everywhere we go in the world it’s a global issue and with that we will always be vigilant. Our threat in that area may not be high but we will always be ready in the event it (arises),” said Kolodgy.

The soldiers are expected to stay about 9 months depending on the extent of the Ebola threat.

About 700 service members are now deployed in West Africa. The Pentagon says that number could as high as 3,900.