Maryland Reservists Gear Up for Ebola Mission in West Africa

Dec. 14--Children bustled through the corridors of an Army Reserve facility just south of the city line Saturday as soldiers gathered for the last family day before some of them head out to West Africa to fight the deadly Ebola outbreak.

Lt. Stylianos Kutob said that his wife has seen the coverage of the disease in the news media -- which has painted a particularly menacing picture of Ebola -- but that she was comforted to know that U.S. soldiers will not be directly dealing with patients.

"That's definitely helped out a lot," he said. As he spoke, Kutob's three children rushed up and huddled around him. They said their biggest worry was missing him while he's gone, and added that they were proud to know their daddy's a soldier.

About 55 soldiers from the Baltimore-based 313th Movement Control Battalion are expected to deploy next spring, transporting medical and construction supplies. In all, the Pentagon has asked about 850 Army reservists to be ready to head overseas for six months as part of a second wave of troops as the military undertakes one of its largest-ever missions in Africa.

Almost 18,000 people have been infected with the Ebola virus, according to the World Health Organization, and close to 6,400 people are reported to have died. The U.S. launched a mission in the fall to help build treatment centers as governments in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and international organizations work to treat patients and stop the spread of the infection.

On Friday, President Barack Obama was briefed on the work being done to fight the disease at home and abroad. He said at the beginning of the meeting that even though it has started to fade from the public's attention after a handful of people were infected and treated on American soil, it's still important to tackle it.

"Although we have not seen an additional case here in the United States, I have always said that we have to make sure we're prepared here at home, and we will not have defeated this disease until we have defeated it where it is most prevalent, and that is in West Africa," he said.

The role the Baltimore Army Reserve unit is expected to play offers a look at how the military helps out in areas with limited resources. Lt. Col. Timothy L. Hughes, the unit's commander, described how his soldiers are trained to keep an eye on the large volume of supplies that flow through war zones or other places the military is deployed.

They use radio-frequency identification -- or RFID -- tags, which work like bar codes but can be read from a distance, to track equipment as it moves and can watch from a computer screen miles away. The job's important for a simple reason, Hughes said: If no one's watching, "things get lost."

A number of the soldiers expected to deploy have previously served in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Hughes said having that experience is important because not all soldiers in reserve units have served overseas. The ones who have, he said, are able to share what they've learned, making everything easier.

The mission is not expected to begin until the spring, when the unit will be formally activated and receive specific training for the work. That training will include how to prevent both Ebola and malaria, the Pentagon has said.

Despite the worries about the disease, Hughes said his soldiers are excited about the chance to work on the humanitarian mission -- it's an opportunity to show off their training and being part of "the best military."

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