WASHINGTON (AP) — The highest Air Force general answerable for the nation’s air- and ground-launched nuclear missiles has requested an official investigation into the variety of officers who’re reporting blood cancer diagnoses after serving at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.
The illnesses became publicly known this week after The Associated Press obtained a military temporary that at the very least nine missileers — those officers serving in underground bunkers near silo-based Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and liable for turning launch keys if ordered — were reporting diagnoses of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. One in all the officers has died.
Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, which is liable for the entire silo-based and aircraft-launched nuclear warheads, said in an announcement to the AP Friday that he has requested that the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine conduct a proper assessment into the reported cancers.
It was not immediately clear if that assessment can be limited to Malmstrom, or if it will include similar nuclear missile facilities at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.
“Air Force Global Strike Command and our Air Force takes the responsibility to guard airmen and Guardians incredibly seriously, and their safety and health is all the time my top priority,” Bussiere said. “While we proceed to work through this process, service members and their dependents in addition to former service members who can have concerns or have questions are encouraged to talk with their healthcare providers.”
Political Cartoons
The Air Force told the AP last Sunday that its medical teams were looking into the problem. Bussiere’s request elevates that look into formal review conducted by the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine.
“We’re working together to create courses of motion moving forward. We’re committed to remaining transparent during this process and we pledge to take care of an open dialogue with members, their families and stakeholders throughout,” Bussiere said.
During the last week, more missileers who served at Malmstrom or their families have reached out to the AP to share their experiences with diagnoses of blood cancer and other sorts of cancer.
Concern concerning the cancers was raised by a Space Force officer in a January briefing to his unit. Many missileers transferred into the Space Force after it was created; at the very least 455 Space Force officers, including its highest-ranking officer, latest Chief of Space Operations Gen. Likelihood Saltzman, served as missileers.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which in keeping with the American Cancer Society affects an estimated 19 out of each 100,000 people within the U.S. annually, is a blood cancer that uses the body’s infection-fighting lymph system to spread.
For comparison, only about 3,300 troops are based at Malmstrom at a time, and only about 400 of those are assigned either as missileers or as support for those operators. The three bases control a complete of 400 siloed Minuteman III ICBMs.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material might not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
