Chris Kenning

@ckenning_cj

Dozens of Kentucky Air National Guard members will be part of the U.S. military's relief response to West Africa's Ebola outbreak — but they won't be going into harm's way.

Starting Thursday, more than 60 airmen of the Louisville-based 123rd Contingency Response Group were being sent to Senegal's capital of Dakar to establish a cargo-processing operation at Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport.

The efforts will support an international effort to battle the ebola virus, which has killed more than 3,330 people in neighboring Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, according to global health officials.

Thier mission will be to set up a base to coordinate cargo arriving on military transport planes and other aircraft, organizing it into smaller planes flying relief supplies into affected areas.

Lt. Col. Kirk Hilbrecht of the Kentucky National Guard said the units have no plans to fly into those countries where the outbreak has occurred.

"The eyes of the world are on West Africa right now and Kentuckians are on the way to help," Maj. Gen. Edward W. Tonini, adjutant general for Kentucky, said in a statement.

Some members of the Louisville unit were also involved in previous humanitarian missions, including after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Reach Chris Kenning at (502) 582-4697. Follow him on Twitter at ckenning_cj.