The Ebola mission being contemplated was like none undertaken before. But with talk of sending troops, Defense Secretary Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dempsey did what the military sensibly does when any new troop deployment is being discussed: they questioned whether soldiers would be given clear tasks that they had the mandate and means to accomplish. “I keep hearing you all saying, our soldiers will ‘suit up’ and do this and that,” Hagel said in one meeting. “Suit up? What does that even mean? My guys have never even seen these HAZMAT suits, apart from in horror movies.”
