By Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Hoskins
MONROVIA, Liberia – The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) cased its colors in a ceremony Feb. 26 at the Barclay Training Center, Monrovia, Liberia, marking the end of Operation United Assistance for the Joint Forces Command – United Assistance and the Screaming Eagles.
The ceremony signified the successful completion of a five-month deployment to Liberia in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development-led mission to fight the spread of Ebola in western Africa.
The Screaming Eagles led the JFC-UA – the Department of Defense arm of the United State’s effort – was comprised of engineers, medical personnel, logisticians and others, which built Ebola treatment units, trained health care workers to staff the ETUs, and built a logistic infrastructure to supply the ETUs.
Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky, the commander of the JFC-UA and the 101st, recognized the extraordinary circumstances in which his team was created and performed.
“Five months ago, we stood at this exact spot and uncased the colors of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) to mark the establishment of the … first Joint Forces Command ever established in West Africa,” said Volesky to an audience of more than a 100 distinguished guests. “That day was the day the United States military brought our full weight to bear in support of our government’s response to contain the Ebola virus in Liberia.”
The main tenants of the JFC were build, train and sustain; however, one other tenant became self-evident – confidence.
“Our mission was to support the lead federal agency, USAID, by providing our unique military capabilities to help contain the virus and reduce the spread of Ebola in Liberia, and to execute our tasks with speed and flexibility that would not only help build confidence among Liberians that the virus could be defeated, but also help garner the support of the international community to also assist in the fight against this disease,” said Volesky.