Courtesy Photo | Soldiers with the 1st Area Medical Laboratory practice a task they may perform during...... read more read more
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LIBERIA - Soldiers deploying with a one-of-a-kind expeditionary medical laboratory to help contain the Ebola virus in West Africa were able to quickly turn in unneeded items before they left with help from DLA Disposition Services Oct. 22-23.
Four DLA Disposition Services team members from Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort Meade, Maryland, helped personnel with the 1st Area Medical Laboratory make room for new kits they would need for Operation United Assistance, the Department of Defense operation supporting the U.S. Agency for International Development-led effort. The team provided guidance and hands-on assistance with the documentation needed to turn equipment in.
Dan Frazier, one of the DLA Disposition Services team members, said it was a fast-moving effort to finish a turn-in project that started before the unit learned it was deploying. About 200 line items were collected. Excess or obsolete tents and camouflage nets were the largest and bulkiest items turned in, he said.
The turn-in help is a standard part of DLA Disposition Services’ support. Teams help deploying units, deactivating commands and decommissioning ships when things need to get done quickly. Lorraine Temple, a member of the team that helped the 1st AML, compared working with the unit to working with those deploying for combat.
“It’s one of those little things we do to serve warfighters and make it easier for them to go about their business,” she said. “There’s nothing better than getting to work directly with Soldiers.”
Army Brig. Gen. J.B. Burton, commander of the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives Command, said the 1st AML was “trained, equipped and ready for this mission” during a ceremony marking the deployment.
"The 1st AML brings unique capabilities to our nation's efforts in support of this mission, and will play a vital role in enabling the understanding of this disease as a part of a larger joint and inter-agency enterprise," he said.
In Liberia, the 1st AML will serve as a part of the Joint Task Force-United Assistance headquarters. The unit will set up laboratories to test samples.
"They will join a team of Soldiers, doctors and scientists who have come together to support the U.S. Agency for International Development,” Burton said. “They will deploy state-of-the-art analyzers and highly-trained soldiers to enhance the identification of the disease using the most advanced protocols."
Since receiving notice of its deployment to Africa, the unit has trained with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Army Col. Patrick M. Garman, 1st AML commander, said the unit’s mission will help to contain the disease globally.
"It's difficult for me to fully express in words the deep gratitude I feel to those whose service will make the world a better place; make the world a safer place," Garman said. "That is what these young men and women are prepared to do."
| Date Taken: | 11.10.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.10.2014 10:45 |
| Story ID: | 147485 |
| Location: | LR |
| Web Views: | 130 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, DLA Disposition Services helps prepare Army lab for OUA deployment, by Kenneth MacNevin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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