Lee Erwin Reporting
lerwin@clarksvillenow.com
FORT CAMPBELL, KY. – The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) command team of Major General Gary Volesky and Command Sergeant Major Gregory Nowak took part in a color casing ceremony at Fort Campbell Tuesday, October 14.
See ceremony photos here
The casing of the 101st colors symbolizes the division’s departure from Fort Campbell as around 700 Soldiers prepare to deploy to Liberia in support of Operation United Assistance. The colors of the 101st will be uncased when the division arrives in the West African country.
General Volesky spoke to those gathered at division headquarters for the ceremony and said Ebola has dominated the world’s attention with stories of people being infected and dying in many countries, including the United States.
“While this mission is completely different from the ones we’ve conducted over the past 14 years. Our support for the United States Agency for International Development and the government of Liberia and their efforts to contain the Ebola virus is just as critical to our nation and its future as our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Volesky.
The mission of the Soldiers will include building Ebola treatment centers to treat those infected with the disease and resupply infrastructure to allow treatment to continue. Medical professionals will train local health care workers to educate the population on prevention measures to help stop the virus from spreading. “Our mission is not to treat infected patients,” Volesky said. “We’re not going to be in the vicinity where infected patients are.”
Talking about the timeline on the deployment General Volesky said there are already about 30 Soldiers on the ground in Liberia and most of the rest of the troops will arrive there by November 1. As far as the length of the deployment Volesky said that was still to be determined.