Obama authorizes use of National Guard to fight Ebola in W. Africa

A soldier goes through the decontamination process with U.S. Army soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), who are earmarked for the fight against Ebola, take part in training before their deployment to West Africa, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky (Reuters / Harrison McClary)

President Barack Obama authorized the Pentagon to call up members of the National Guard and other military reserve units on Thursday to help combat the spread of Ebola in West Africa.

Obama said the guardsmen would “augment the active forces in support of Operation United Assistance, providing humanitarian assistance and consequence management related to the Ebola virus disease outbreak in the West Africa region” in a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Hill reported.

The Defense Department is expected to send eight engineers and logistical specialists from the Guard ‒ both active-duty and reservists ‒ during the first deployment, sources told NBC News. They are likely to help build 17 Ebola treatment centers, with 100 beds apiece.

The Guard members would join the nearly 4,000 regular troops deploying to West Africa in the coming weeks in an effort to contribute in the fight against the Ebola virus outbreak in the region, according to the Pentagon.

Obama signed the executive order Thursday afternoon, permitting the Pentagon to use the reservists and Guard troops, the Associated Press reported. The DOD said the use of an executive order was necessary to speed the deployments, and would allow the president to send additional forces as needed, according to NBC News. Obama also notified top congressional officials of his move.

Thursday evening, the president met with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Thomas Frieden and top White House officials in the Oval Office. He spoke to reporters afterwards, saying it might be appropriate to appoint an additional person to coordinate the response to Ebola in the United States. There have been increasing calls from the press and politicians that Obama name an “Ebola czar.”

Obama also discussed the possibility of a travel ban from the five West African countries where the outbreak began. He said that while he doesn’t have a “philosophical objection” to such a ban, he has been advised against it by health experts.

“History shows that there is a likelihood of increased avoidance (that could lead to) more cases rather than less,”Obama said. “The problem is that ‒ in all the discussions that I’ve had thus far with experts in the field, experts in infectious disease… a travel ban is less effective than the measures that we are currently instituting.”

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