Iowa National Guard prepares to help in West Africa

WASHINGTON, Iowa - The panic that flared when Ebola burst upon the national consciousness this fall has largely subsided, according to soldiers with an Iowa National Guard unit headed for West Africa next spring.

'I feel like it was this huge deal that just kind of dissipated,” said Sgt. Chandra Hundley, one of about 40 members of the Guard's 294th Area Support Medical Company slated for mobilization in March for a humanitarian mission to help stop the spread of the virus.

While there was some apprehension about the unknown, 'No one said, ‘No, I'm not going,'” said Sgt. First Class Rob Radosevich, readiness non-commissioned officer for the 294th, based in Washington.

'I think a lot of the panic had to do with people just not having access to the facts,” said Radosevich, a 31-year Army veteran and an Iowa Guard member since 2004.

Confirmed Ebola cases and fatalities have been reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Mali. Cases have also been reported in the United States and Spain.

As of Monday, 18,498 cases had been reported with 11,731 of them confirmed by laboratory tests. The death toll stood at 6,856, with one of those recorded in the United States.

'It's been a mixed bag - a lot of excitement, some fear of the unknown, battling something we can't really see,” said Company Commander Maj. Joseph Provateare.

Though the Nov. 14 notice to prepare for deployment 'came out of the blue,” Provateare said the 294th responded positively. 'A lot of our people wanted to go,” he said.

Following that notification, the 294th received a second, more specific mobilization order on Dec. 2, informing the unit that just 40 soldiers, rather than the initial 80, would be required.

Radosevich said the 40 soldiers selected, based on rank and MOS (military occupational specialties), were notified on Dec. 12.

'I had more people wanting to go than available seats. That's happened with every mobilization I've been a part of,” said Radosevich, who will not be going this time 'because they had no slot for an E-7 medic.”

Radosevich said the unit will report March 10 to Fort Hood, Texas, for 30 days' 'theater specific” training that will include protocols for protecting themselves from the Ebola virus.

'It's unlikely that they would be exposed to the virus, but the threat does exist,” he said.

'They will not be treating Ebola patients. They will be treating military personnel - U.S. and coalition forces - engaged in building medical facilities,” Radosevich said.

After their Fort Hood training, the soldiers will go directly overseas without returning home for leave, he said.

At the conclusion of their deployment - which is expected to last about six months - they will undergo an obligatory 21-day quarantine, Radosevich said.

'They will be truly medically cleared before any exposure to friends and family,” he added.

Provateare, a 17-year member of the Iowa National Guard, said malaria, which is prevalent in the region, could be a bigger threat than Ebola. The Fort Hood training, he said, will cover prevention of malaria and other tropical diseases.

Hundley, a nurse at Dallas County Hospital in Perry, said she was both excited and scared when the deployment was announced in November.

Now that Ebola has become better understood, Hundley, who carried a weapon daily during the Guard's 2010-11 deployment to Afghanistan, said she is proud to be part of a humanitarian mission that could quell the disease before it threatens her family and friends.

Pvt. E2 William Drayfahl of Ainsworth said his family was relieved when he learned Dec. 12 that he would not be going with the 294th to Africa,

Drayfahl, a veteran of the 2010-2011 Afghanistan deployment, said he 'was not really concerned about his personal welfare,” but that his family members, as with many other Americans, had been alarmed by frightening publicity.