By Nick Simeone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2014 – President Barack Obama has
authorized the Defense Department to call up a small number of National Guard
or reserve troops that possess special skills needed to aid efforts in stopping
the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa.
Obama issued an executive order yesterday authorizing the
secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to order the Selected Reserve and
certain members of the Individual Ready Reserve to deploy to West Africa, where
as many as 4,000 U.S. troops are headed, most of them to Liberia, to support
U.S. and international efforts to stop the rapidly spreading virus that has
killed nearly 4,500 people.
U.S. officials say Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel requested
the order after determining that specialists with skill sets needed by
Operation United Assistance, including engineers, comptrollers and religious
specialists, were in short supply, or to replace active-duty personnel.
Already, elements of the Kentucky Air National Guard are in
Dakar, Senegal, to establish a staging base for the Liberia-based mission,
having volunteered and deployed before the presidential order was issued.
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