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FORT BLISS, Texas (AP) — About 75 soldiers from a West Texas Army post are being deployed this weekend to West Africa as part of a U.S. military mission in areas affected by the Ebola outbreak.
The Fort Bliss soldiers will go on seven flights carrying heavy equipment such as generators, containers and helicopters. About 500 Fort Bliss soldiers are expected to eventually be deployed.
"I am honored to be going there," Cap. Heather Frazier told the Associated Press while she said goodbye to other soldiers who were departing. Frazier, an Afghanistan and Iraq veteran, expects to be deployed shortly.
The advance party of soldiers is being deployed to guarantee that conditions, facilities and logistics are set up for the arrival of additional troops, Fort Bliss spokesman Lt. Col. Lee Peters said.
Crews of soldiers and airmen loaded vehicles and containers into a cargo airplane. Other equipment, Peters said, will be going by boat.
The World Health Organization reports that more than 10,000 people have been infected with Ebola in this outbreak and nearly half of those individuals have died.
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