Ebola- snips from 31 Oct 2014 DoD presser

[nitpicker]

http://www.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=5531

Department of Defense Press Briefing by Admiral Kirby in the Pentagon Briefing Room
Presenters: Rear Admiral John Kirby, Press Secretary
October 31, 2014

REAR ADMIRAL JOHN KIRBY: (snip)
I do have something. I'm going to ask you to bear with me as I read it -- an update. Just literally within the last half-hour, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, Jess Wright, signed a memo, a change memo to pre-deployment, deployment and post-deployment procedures and protocols for DOD personnel.

This is reflecting the decision that the secretary made, as you -- as you tracked yesterday, to support the Joint Chiefs' recommendation that our troops returning would go through this controlled monitoring process for about 21 days. But it also includes some guidance on civilian personnel. And I know some of you had asked about that. So just bear with me. I'll read to you the section that regards DOD civilian personnel.

So, civilian employees who are deploying in response to the Ebola outbreak in western Africa have two options upon redeployment. They must choose between these options prior to departure from theater. Option one: Active monitoring and return to normal activities. Under this option, DOD civilian employees will comply with guidance from the CDC, state, and local public health authorities unless otherwise directed. This includes returning to normal work duties, routines and life activities consistent with that guidance. DOD components will comply with active monitoring guidance in this memorandum, to include twice-daily temperature checks.

Or option two: To voluntarily participate in military-controlled monitoring. Under this option, DOD components will allow civilian employees to voluntarily participate in the same control procedures that military personnel will be undergoing as established inside -- inside this directive earlier -- earlier in the document.

For all personnel, during the 21-day post-deployment active monitoring period, there will be no leave or temporary duty or temporary additional duty that will be authorized outside the local area, to ensure continued fact-to-face monitoring, except for civilian personnel participating voluntarily in the military-controlled monitoring program. In that case, there question of temporary orders is kind of moot at that point because they're going to be in controlled monitoring.
So I wanted to provide that guidance to you because some of you had asked about civilians and how they would factor into the protocols.

Q: Just -- I have a couple of questions for you, but just for clarity's sake, on your first point about the two choices. The first choice, essentially, is to go along with the state or the CDC guidelines, period.

REAR ADM. KIRBY: Correct. Which would be active monitoring, but they're able to go home, they just have to take their temperature twice a day.
(snip)

Q: I have an Ebola question. So, before this 15-day plan has been presented I guess to the secretary or clear, there's several small groups that are supposed to be coming back. Where will they be going? Is there some sort of an intermediate base, or at this point is everyone who's redeploying, U.S. military that is, redeploying from West Africa, will they all go back to Vicenza, if that's the place, even if that's not their home base?

REAR ADM. KIRBY: Don't know the answer to that, actually. General Rodriguez is looking at that exact issue right now. And I don't know when the next transit of individuals is. I don't think it's imminent. Probably within the next week or so. So, we have some time to figure this out. But I think General Rodriguez is working on that right now.

Q: What's the thinking of having different rules for DOD civilians versus military personnel? Is it based on the length of time they may be there? Is it based on the duties they may perform while they're there? What's the thinking that they should have a different set of rules?

REAR ADM. KIRBY: There's two components to this, Julian. One is because they're civilian employees and not uniformed servicemembers. We legally can't force them to undergo a controlled monitoring regimen the way that we can with uniformed troops. And number two, quite frankly, they are going to be down there in just far fewer numbers. There's a -- there's a math component to this, as the chairman said yesterday, that we are -- U.S. military members are the largest cohort going down there in big numbers. And we go in units, and we come back in units principally. And so there's a -- there's a component here of just simple size.
Right now, there's about 55 DOD civilians down in West Africa between Senegal and Liberia, total, compared to, you know, well over -- I think we're up at like 1,200 in terms of U.S. uniformed personnel. So, big difference in the population size.

Q: Do you, just as a quick follow-up, is there any exception for uniformed military members who might have, you know, might be just doing a short, quick trip as part of a distinguished visitor tour, or a quick support, as opposed to someone who's going to be there for several months as part of the deployment?

REAR ADM. KIRBY: This memo covers that. For somebody who's transient personnel like that, they would not have to go through 21 days of controlled monitoring, you know, if there was -- if we believed there was no risk of exposure. Obviously, if you're down there for a short period of time and you for some reason come in contact and we think there's a high risk of exposure, obviously that changes the game altogether. But if it's a transient issue like an air crew and they don't ever come into contact, and they're only down there for a little while, they don't have to go through the whole controlled monitoring process. That's all laid out in the secretary's memo which we will, of course, make available to you after the briefing.
(snip)

Q: In response to Ebola, the Chinese minister of defense says it -- it has deployed 50 military health workers to Liberia and is also building a, I think, 100-bed hospital there. I -- I wonder if there's collaboration or coordination between the two militaries over there in Liberia.

REAR ADM. KIRBY: I'm not aware of any collaboration or coordination between the two militaries, but we certainly welcome China's contributions to the effort.

Q: Just to follow up -- but the transient personnel that you mentioned, the -- what's the timeline? Like, I mean, what's -- is there a specific amount of time that someone's on the ground that would qualify them as being transient versus --

REAR ADM. KIRBY: Hold on-- I have to look. Let me look here and see. I don't know. Can I take that for the record and get back to you? Otherwise I'll just be flipping through this manual here.

Q: Yeah, unless you -- is it in the memo that you're gonna give us?

REAR ADM. KIRBY: It might be. I just -- literally, the memo just got signed. I haven't had a chance to read every graph of it.

I can tell you that's the spirit of it for transient personnel. I don't know if it's specified in here in terms of the time limit. But let us take that for you and get back to you.

[nitpicker]

1. link to link to memo

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123544

[Fred Sanders]

2. Excellent. Separates army personnel from civilian personnel, army personnel do not have the same

civil liberty rights and now will have the same rights as Kaci Hickox and as recommended by the CDC.

Science triumphs again, and to its ally, the law. Now make the opposing crowd pay on Election Day.

End of that distraction:


REAR ADM. KIRBY: There's two components to this, Julian. One is because they're civilian employees and not uniformed servicemembers. We legally can't force them to undergo a controlled monitoring regimen the way that we can with uniformed troops. And number two, quite frankly, they are going to be down there in just far fewer numbers. There's a -- there's a math component to this, as the chairman said yesterday, that we are -- U.S. military members are the largest cohort going down there in big numbers. And we go in units, and we come back in units principally. And so there's a -- there's a component here of just simple size.