High-tech weapons and personal courage aren't the only assets that make the U.S. military the potent force that it is. Lesser-known skill in logistics and supply-chain management are equally formidable, bringing personnel, machinery, medical equipment and other essentials to remote areas with unrivaled speed and efficiency.

Against a traditional military foe, organizational might like this would be a game-changer. Against one of the nation's latest security threats — the deadly Ebola virus threatening to destabilize the African continent — U.S. forces face an unprecedented challenge. Along with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), can they build desperately needed public health infrastructure fast enough to stop the disease's spread in impoverished West Africa?

"We've got to figure out how to move in virus time, not program or bureaucracy time,'' said Michael Osterholm, an internationally known infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota.

President Obama's Sept. 16 announcement that the nation is ramping up military and medical resources in countries hard hit by Ebola is overdue, but a decent start. Up to 3,000 troops may be sent to Africa, according to the New York Times. Their assignment: building new treatment facilities and training health-care workers. The Department of Defense is also expected to open a joint command center in Monrovia, Liberia, to coordinate the international effort.

This West African nation's prominence in the U.S. Ebola response is a reminder that the outbreak on the other side of the world is bringing grief to Minnesota families. The country is one of the epicenters of this year's Ebola outbreak, which is unprecedented in its size and spread, and this state is home to a large community of Liberian immigrants.

Minnesotans with ties to Liberia have had friends and loved ones die there. A key reason: Medical facilities and resources are grossly inadequate in impoverished West Africa.

New warnings from the CDC this week underscored the challenge facing troops and the agency's own personnel deployed to combat the virus.

On Tuesday, the agency released new best- and worst-case estimates of the disease's spread in West Africa. The CDC said that the West African Ebola epidemic could mostly be contained by mid-January, according to computer modeling. But there are big qualifiers attached to this. Achieving this kind of containment would require a widespread change in regional funeral practices contributing to the Ebola's spread (among them: touching the deceased).

Containment would also require going over a difficult threshold — getting 70 percent of Ebola patients into facilities properly equipped and staffed. Currently, unfounded fears that aid workers and doctors are transmitting Ebola have prevented many people from seeking professional care even when it is available.

The CDC's worst-case scenario figures are downright chilling — about 21,000 cases of Ebola in West Africa by the end of this month, with the total potentially rising to 1.4 million in mid-January.

The estimated 1,700 new hospital beds created by the new U.S. military "surge" in West Africa would only be available for a fraction of those who could be infected. The estimates should send a strong signal to Obama, Congress and other nations that the battle against Ebola has only begun.

High-level strategizing is needed to combat Ebola should it spread into East Africa, where rapid transmission could occur in large-city slums. Where would the resources come from to fight Ebola there, and how would western health officials ensure timely aid? The slow international response to West Africa's outbreak unfortunately contributed to the crisis there.

There are also growing concerns about the virus mutating and becoming more easily transmissible. Data and monitoring are urgently needed on this issue.

While the developed world's advanced hospitals and medical expertise remain formidable safeguards against Ebola, inaction is not an option. The disease is causing widespread pain and suffering in Africa. Ensuing unrest there could create safe harbors for terrorists.

This isn't just a public health crisis, it's a national security issue. Ebola is a dangerous foe and efforts to stop it must be an international priority even as crises elsewhere demand leaders' attention.