Quarantined Seabees in Good Condition

Last month, 15 Gulfport Seabees were ordered into isolation after returning from a mission in Liberia, Africa, where they could have been exposed to the Ebola virus.

Twelve days into their 21 day isolation period, News 25 finally hears from one Gulfport Seabee. This past June, 15 Gulport Seabees were sent to Liberia to help the Air Force build a hospital to combat the overwhelming amount of Ebola patients in the region.

Chief Equipment Operator for N.M.C.B. 133, Jason Knifley says the men were expecting to be put into isolation when they returned to the states to make sure they were not infected with the virus and to prevent the infection of others. Knifley says, "It wasn’t frustrating. We we’re just waiting to see how long the isolation was gonna’ be so it was good that we were notified a couple weeks out, so we could inform our families how long we would actually be isolated before we would be back to our homes or on deployment."

The Seabees, along with 75 other military personnel, are being held at the Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. According to the chief, there is plenty to do in isolation besides getting their temperature taken twice daily. Knifley also says, "So you do the breakfast. After breakfast, the gym, you run, workout, or they’ve got a building set up for moral with TVs and video games, and after that, you have lunch that starts at 12:30."

Mississippi Congressman Steven Palazzo was the first government official to visit the Seabees to make sure they were isolated comfortably. Knifley also says, "He did a walkthrough of the facility, talked to the 15 Seabees stationed in Gulfport, Mississippi, and just did a walkthrough to see how we we’re living, what the conditions were like."

The Gulfport Seabees were never scheduled to be home for the holiday season, but because of their predicament, Congressman Palazzo decided to send them a little love from the Coast in the form of some homemade gumbo from Mary Mahoney’s. The camp where the Seabees are isolated has planned a few holiday activities for them, including a football game and a turkey trot.

In nine days, when the isolation period ends, the Gulfport Seabees will be deployed to Djibouti, Africa and will be returning to the Coast in mid-January.