(CNN) - A 21-day quarantine for all military personnel serving in Ebola stricken areas of West Africa was approved by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Wednesday.
The quarantine was pushed for by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Pentagon officials acknowledge. Initially the measure will apply to all personnel leaving the West Africa area. But "after a few weeks we will reassess," and see if the quarantine is still needed a military official tells CNN.
According to the XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Eustis soldiers returning from Western Africa and Operation United Assistance will undergo 21-day controlled monitoring. Policy details and locations are being assessed at this time. This decision was made out of caution to ensure soldiers, family members and their surrounding communities are confident that we are taking all steps necessary to protect their health.
The policy creates a separate set of rules for military members than what the White House has pushed for civilian health care workers. President Obama has argued that civilian volunteer health workers returning from aid trips to Africa should not be quarantined and the White House has urged states not to impose their own quarantine policies. Science, Obama has said, does not support the need for a quarantine.
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Asked to explain the discrepancy between civilians and the military, he said Tuesday service members have been sent to the Ebola region by him and health workers are going as volunteers.
"It's part of their mission that's been assigned to them by their commanders and ultimately by me, the commander-in-chief," the president told reporters on the White House's South Lawn on Tuesday."So we don't expect to have similar rules for our military as we do for civilians," Obama said. "They are already, by definition, if they're in the military under more circumscribed conditions."
The chiefs did not have new scientific or medical data about Ebola when they pressed for Hagel to approve the quarantine the military official said. "This is simply about the chiefs looking at the best way to take care of the force, the families and the communities to which they are returning." This effort "is an admittedly conservative approach," the official said.
In their discussions the chiefs---who each head one of the military services branches---noted that many of the US troops are young and inexperienced in any medical issues. There was concern they might not adhere to an informal protocol of taking their temperature twice a day on their own. And the official said, families and communities in the US and Europe where the troops are located had also expressed concern. The US already has 1,000 troops on the ground, and that force could grow to a total of 4,000. "That's the biggest group of Americans there," the official said, noting that also was a factor in the chiefs thinking.
"The chiefs believe it is better to start more restrictive and then re-assess as we get further into the Ebola operation," the official said. For now, troops will be held in quarantine at bases designated by each of the military services. There will be provisions for compassionate leave---allowing troops to leave quarantine if they have a family emergency such as an illness or death. The quarantine will also not apply to those just briefly travelling to Liberia, or aircrews flying in an out, although everyone is told to monitor their temperatures.
Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno ordered an Army wide quarantine for soldiers coming back from West Africa, beginning with Major General Darryl Williams and his team. Defense officials had said the quarantine for Williams was ordered because he and his group had traveled extensively around Liberia, although they had no direct contact with Ebola patients.
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby released this statement on the quarantine:
This morning, Secretary Hagel signed an order that validated a recommendation from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to place all U.S. military service members returning from Ebola response efforts in West Africa into a 21-day controlled monitoring regimen. This order will apply to all military services that are contributing personnel to the fight against Ebola at its source.
The secretary has also directed that the Joint Chiefs develop, for his review within 15 days, a detailed implementation plan for how this controlled monitoring will be applied across the force that takes into account the size and scope of the logistics required for this effort.
In addition, the secretary directed that the Joint Chiefs conduct a review of this new regimen within 45 days from now. This review will offer a recommendation on whether or not such controlled monitoring should continue based on what we learn and observe from the initial waves of personnel returning from Operation United Assistance.
The secretary believes these initial steps are prudent given the large number of military personnel transiting from their home base and West Africa and the unique logistical demands and impact this deployment has on the force. The secretary's highest priority is the safety and security of our men and women in uniform and their families.
