As the Ebola threat evolves, the Pentagon has acknowledged the size and duration of the mission in West Africa could too. Deployments might even top the current projection of nearly 4,000, an increase from an earlier estimate of around 3,000.

To operate safely in Monrovia and beyond, the Army is giving soldiers safety training, including a course for 150 soldiers on Thursday at Fort Campbell.

The group of soldiers carefully listened to instructors from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, who spelled out the dangerous of Ebola, which kills nearly half of the people it infects.

Captain Alex Willard, who was undergoing the training, said the West Africa mission was far different than the kinds of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan than many in the 101st “probably are more comfortable with.”