--- description: These are three reasons the U.S. military is being quarantined title: Why Is the Military So Strict With Quarantines? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6a1c54091d69d90/698762edf887dc18d7e87be0/liberia-ebola-us-troops.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [The Brief](/tag/the-brief/) ## The Brief Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # #TheBrief: Why Is the Military So Strict With Quarantines? by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 31, 2014 1:45 PM CUT  A health worker takes the temperature of U.S. Marines arriving to take part in Operation United Assistance on Oct. 9, 2014 near Monrovia, Liberia. A health worker takes the temperature of U.S. Marines arriving to take part in Operation United Assistance on Oct. 9, 2014 near Monrovia, Liberia.John Moore—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 31, 2014 1:45 PM CUT President Barack Obama thinks states like New York, New Jersey and Illinois are too harsh with their quarantine or isolation protocols for health workers returning from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa, yet the military he commands is similarly strict. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced a mandatory 21-day quarantine this week for all returning service members, meaning all military personnel can’t return home until after the outer limit of their holding period passes. Watch #TheBrief to understand the three reasons why the military has such strict Ebola quarantine regulations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3548677/military-ebola-quarantine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3548677/military-ebola-quarantine/"},"headline":"#TheBrief: Why Is the Military So Strict With Quarantines?","datePublished":"2014-10-31T13:45:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:07:46.749Z","description":"These are three reasons the U.S. military is being quarantined","url":"https://time.com/3548677/military-ebola-quarantine/","keywords":["The Brief","ebola"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6a1c54091d69d90/698762edf887dc18d7e87be0/liberia-ebola-us-troops.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb6a1c54091d69d90/698762edf887dc18d7e87be0/liberia-ebola-us-troops.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A health worker takes the temperature of U.S. Marines arriving to take part in Operation United Assistance on Oct. 9, 2014 near Monrovia, Liberia.","caption":"A health worker takes the temperature of U.S. Marines arriving to take part in Operation United Assistance on Oct. 9, 2014 near Monrovia, Liberia.","creditText":"John Moore—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/the-brief/","name":"The Brief"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3548677/military-ebola-quarantine/","name":"#TheBrief: Why Is the Military So Strict With Quarantines?"}}]}] ```