Lessons learned from US Public Health Services Reintegration mission as part of
the USGov Ebola Response
Presenter(s): CDR Alfredo Sancho, Ph.D., MPH, MA, USPHS; CAPT Laura Aponte, MSW, LCSW,
BCD, USPHS
As part of the USGov Ebola Response mission 2014-2015 in Monrovia and other West African countries,
U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (CC) officers were deployed to the Monrovia Medical
Unit (MMU) in Liberia. Reintegration of deployed officers with their families, coworkers, and
community in general is not easy nor seamless. It is a process that takes time and effort, as well as an
understanding that each officer and their family has gone through an emotional, mental, and sometimes
physical change during the separation. Families have to develop coping mechanisms to continue with
their daily activities while the family member is deployed. The reunion and reintegration can be
surprisingly stressful and on occasion frustrating and disappointing.
Within the Commissioned Corps, the Services Access Teams (SAT) were tasked with developing a
Concept of Operations (CONOPS) and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for a “Reintegration
mission” in support of deployed officers and their family members. The purpose of this presentation is to
share with the other Uniform Services the structure and outcome of this effort and to elicit from other
Uniform Services their lessons learned and best practices from their own Reintegration efforts. We
expect the SOP to be a “living document” that will evolve with each mission; but, it will provide an initial
framework for those tasked with this important mission.
From the DRAFT SOP distributed to SAT Leaders:
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Organization chart and specialized skill sets of Reintegration teams
Command and Control (C2) as well as Communication channels (Commo) used
Graphic showing HHS internal and external resources used
Number of officers and family members supported during each of the cycles
Selected items from the After Action Report (AAR) to RedDOG
Learning Objectives
1. To understand transitional phase challenges during reintegration common to all Uniform Services
2. To learn and apply strategies that may improve current practices in overcoming C2 and Commo
challenges during a reintegration mission
3. To identify best practices and resources in support of deployed officers and their families