WASHINGTON – After a four-day trip to Liberia in late December, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) — then chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs — urged the Pentagon to change its strategy in the fight against Ebola. In an event at the White House on Wednesday, President Obama announced the change in strategy and recognized Senator Coons for his work.

“The United States' intervention in Liberia has turned an emergency crisis into a manageable situation, and now our strategy there needs to change,” Senator Coons said. “The President is right: our mission will not be complete until there are no active Ebola cases. The strategy the President announced today is the right one for ensuring another public health crisis in West Africa doesn't require another U.S. intervention of this scale. The fight against Ebola is not over yet, but I’ve been glad to work with the President these last few months to ensure that we win it.” 

In a memo to President Obama, a letter to the Secretary of Defense, and in news interviews in early January, Senator Coons called for the Pentagon to:

  • Turn our expensive mobile military labs into permanent sustainable Liberian labs;
  • Convert our over-engineered temporary Ebola treatment units into lasting local clinics; and
  • Recall the majority of U.S. military personnel and leave behind a smaller force of engineers and trainers.

President Obama announced Wednesday that 2,900 of the 3,000 military personnel deployed to West Africa would return home by the end of April. The remaining personnel will stay in West Africa to transition our lab equipment, convert some of the Ebola treatment units into clinics, maintain other treatment units for future flare-ups, and train Liberian personnel to operate them.