Wright-Patterson Crew Not Monitored under Mandatory Ebola Quarantine
Dayton Daily News | Oct 30, 2014 | by Barrie Barber
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE -- A Wright-Patterson-based C-17 jet that flew to Monrovia, Liberia to drop off cargo this month has not been impacted by a 21-day "controlled monitoring regimen" the Department of Defense ordered as of Wednesday morning, a wing spokesperson said.
The crew of six Air Force reservists with the 445th Airlift Wing returned to Wright-Patterson on Sunday, said spokeswoman Stacey Vaughn. They were part of Operation United Assistance, the U.S. military's response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The C-17 crew dropped off cargo Oct. 19, were on the ground for a few hours to unload a four-wheeled crane, and then eventually flew to Afghanistan to bring more equipment home, unit officials said.
Lt. Col. Cynthia Harris, a unit spokeswoman, said the crew did not come in contact with Ebola patients. She added the unit has not been tasked with future flights to Africa.
The reservists were instructed to take their temperature twice a day and report their findings to the wing's medical department twice a week, Vaughn said.
Lt. Col. Kathyrn Barnsley, an Air Mobility Command spokeswoman at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., said it was too early to say if the order Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel signed today would apply to aircrews.
A message was left with a Pentagon spokeswoman for further comment Wednesday.
In a statement Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said the secretary had ordered all U.S. military personnel returning from Operation United Assistance in West Africa into a 21-day "controlled monitoring program."
Hagel also directed the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop for review within 15 days a detailed plan "for how controlled monitoring will be applied across the force that takes into account the size and scope of the logistics required for this effort."
The Joint Chiefs were to conduct a review of the regimen within 45 days, Kirby added.
The review will recommend whether or not controlled monitoring should continue.
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