A town hall meeting at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, also held on Facebook on Thursday, yielded the same questions military families have asked for ages before deployments: How long will the troops be gone? Where can I send care packages? Will the unit still deploy on its regular schedule after it returns?
But this event also had its share of unique concerns. Spouses wanted to know if items they sent family members could get contaminated with Ebola, whether the troops had Tyvek suits to protect them from infection, what the screening policies were for local contractors for fever, an early symptom of an Ebola infection.
“Will soldiers be living together in barracks during the 21 days [of quarantine]? What will happen if one person comes down with the virus? Will all need to spend another 21 days in isolation?” asked Jennifer Ramsey.
Army leadership held the Joint Forces Command — Operation United Assistance Town Hall at conference rooms at Fort Campbell; Fort Carson, Colorado; Fort Bliss,Texas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia; and Fort Stewart, Georgia, linked by video teleconference.
Families who couldn’t attend the meetings in person also were invited to pose questions on Facebook, with the promise that Army public affairs officials would summarize the procedures of the teleconference and answer Facebook questions as well.
But the format wasn’t perfect: Of the roughly 50 questions asked on Facebook and more at the town halls, officials answered about 20, with promises of more answers to come.
Still, families were enlightened on several aspects of this unique deployment, which has U.S. troops providing logistics, engineering, construction expertise, and command and control support to the affected countries and supporting the U.S. response led by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
For example, according to Army officials, many of troops ate their first hot meal Monday; they have a similar “battle rhythm” they maintained in Iraq and Afghanistan with 12-hour day and night shifts, Monday through Saturday; and most troops haven’t even met a Liberian yet.
“The soldiers are not leaving and going out into the economy. Before anybody leaves the base the chain of command has to approve it,” Army officials wrote.
According to the leaders, including 101st Commanding General Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky, who participated in the conference via Skype, the troops are prepared to be deployed up to a year.
Officials did not respond to what seemed to be of the most concern to many participants, whether troops will receive hazardous duty pay (they won’t — they are eligible for hardship duty pay-location of $150 a month, retroactive after 30 days in theater and family separation allowance, $250 a month, for those with dependents).
Nor will they receive combat-zone exclusions on regular basic pay or hostile fire pay.
The families were, however, reassured that the next time they see their loved ones, they won’t have Ebola.
“When we redeploy we are going to be monitored for 21 days at a location that is not Fort Campbell to ensure they are Ebola free. By the time you see your husband or wife there is zero chance they have Ebola,” wrote 101st Airborne leadership.
Still, some Army spouses question the validity of several statements made by officials at the town hall. A wife of a 101st Airborne Division noncommissioned officer said she speaks with her husband often and he said some of the claims — especially regarding troops leaving base — aren’t true.
“They are going outside on the economy, buying snacks and cigarettes. They schedule rotations when they leave the base, but they are leaving it,” said the wife who requested anonymity out of respect for her husband.
She worries that more wasn’t being done to boost troop morale as well and would like Army leadership to be more clear on what families can mail to service members to help them pass the time and deal with separation as the holidays approach.
“It’s confusing. These are outstanding soldiers and it would be nice to know what we could do to make them feel more comfortable,” she said.
