--- title: Pentagon Wraps Up Ebola Response in West Africa description: The Pentagon is withdrawing U.S. troops from West Africa who have been stationed there since September to fight Ebola. canonical: https://time.com/3704329/pentagon-ebola-west-africa/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-11T01:47:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:19:06.058Z article:section: Politics og:title: Pentagon Wraps Up Ebola Response in West Africa og:description: The Pentagon is withdrawing U.S. troops from West Africa who have been stationed there since September to fight Ebola. og:url: https://time.com/3704329/pentagon-ebola-west-africa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt683d241f8bde031e/6986a09c36176046a690d92b/john-kirby.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby Holds Media Briefing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pentagon Wraps Up Ebola Response in West Africa twitter:description: The Pentagon is withdrawing U.S. troops from West Africa who have been stationed there since September to fight Ebola. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt683d241f8bde031e/6986a09c36176046a690d92b/john-kirby.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pentagon Wraps Up Ebola Response in West Africa > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 11, 2015 1:47 AM UTC  Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby answers questions at the Pentagon on Aug. 22, 2014 in Arlington, Virginia. Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby answers questions at the Pentagon on Aug. 22, 2014 in Arlington, Virginia. Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 11, 2015 1:47 AM UTC The Pentagon is withdrawing U.S. troops from West Africa who were stationed there in September to fight Ebola, leaving behind only a small force to combat future outbreaks. In a statement Tuesday evening, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that almost all troops will return home by April 30\. At the height of the crisis, 2,800 Department of Defense personnel were in West Africa, and today 1,500 of them are already back to their duty stations. “Over the past several months, the Department of Defense delivered critical life-saving resources, constructed Ebola Treatment Units, trained hundreds of local and international healthcare workers, and provided logistical support to humanitarian and public health workers who provided care throughout West Africa,” the statement said. According to a White House fact sheet, more than 10,000 U.S. government-supported civilians are now on the ground in West Africa. The U.S. government also facilitated the construction of 15 Ebola Treatment Units, 10 of which were built by U.S. service members. The Department of Defense will leave behind a small residual force, about 100 personnel, to stay in West Africa to ward against future outbreaks. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3704329/pentagon-ebola-west-africa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3704329/pentagon-ebola-west-africa/"},"headline":"Pentagon Wraps Up Ebola Response in West Africa","datePublished":"2015-02-11T01:47:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:19:06.058Z","description":"The Pentagon is withdrawing U.S. troops from West Africa who have been stationed there since September to fight Ebola.","url":"https://time.com/3704329/pentagon-ebola-west-africa/","keywords":["Military","Africa","Pentagon","ebola"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt683d241f8bde031e/6986a09c36176046a690d92b/john-kirby.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt683d241f8bde031e/6986a09c36176046a690d92b/john-kirby.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby Holds Media Briefing","caption":"Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby Holds Media Briefing","creditText":"Win McNamee—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/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3704329/pentagon-ebola-west-africa/","name":"Pentagon Wraps Up Ebola Response in West Africa"}}]}] ```