Smart people do smart things.

That sentiment was the take-away from Joint Base Lewis-McChord's first Ebola Town Hall meeting at the Evergreen Theater. Three more are planned.

"There are plenty of smart people here to answer your questions," said Col. Tony Davit, JBLM's deputy commander.

The reason for the town halls stems from the Army's directive that JBLM and four other U.S. bases (and two in Europe) will serve as controlled monitoring areas - or CMAs - where servicemembers will be housed and isolated for 21 days upon returning from Operation United Assistance in West Africa.

JBLM's controlled monitoring areas, which will have the capacity to hold 300 servicemembers, will become operation this Friday.

"We're talking about a small subset of the population that has traveled to West Africa," noted Lt. Col. (Dr.) Todd Marcum.

"We have a very good understanding of the subset involved; there have been no reported cases in this country during the past 20 days," continued Marcum.

An infectious disease and preventive medicine specialist at the Madigan Army Medical Center, Marcum explained in very clear and understandable terms the facts and myths surrounding Ebola.

"Ebola has vulnerabilities," Marcum stressed.  "It is difficult to spread through usual contact."

The disease cannot be spread through the air; insects or animals cannot spread it; it cannot be spread through food.

It is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an individual who is symptomatic.

"It is a very hard disease to transmit the virus," Marcum emphasized.

What's more, he assured the audience of more than 300 individuals that all Madigan personnel have been briefed on how to use personnel protective equipment and know the identifying symptoms of the disease.

Marcum said that those servicemembers, who have been "boots on the ground" in support of Operation United Assistance, would spend three weeks in a CMA.

It is very important to note that a CMA is not a quarantine.

To be "quarantined" is to already have the disease, thus requiring a complete isolation of the individual. 

To be held in a CMA is to ensure that no one has the disease, thus negating the need for quarantine while allowing for aggressive, early intervention in combating the Ebola virus.

Service members in a CMA cannot leave for 21 days and only after they have received medical clearance.

Transient servicemembers - such as the McChord Field aircrews that fly in and out of West Africa delivering supplies - will be required to self-monitor (that is to say, they will not be in a CMA) for a 21-day period.

Accommodations for those in the CMA will be nice. Large screen televisions, computers, games, et cetera will be available to keep the servicemembers occupied.

"Soldiers and airmen will have all the comforts of home," said Marcum.

The three next Town Hall times and locations are as follows:

Thursday, Nov. 13, 1 p.m. at the McChord Theater at McChord Field;

Thursday, Nov. 13, 6 p.m. at the French Theater, Lewis Main;

Friday, Nov. 14, 1 p.m. at French Theater, Lewis Main.