Investigations into potential toxic exposures of those who work with America's nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles are reaching some of the highest levels of government and the Department of the Air Force, service officials said.
During a town hall meeting updating veterans, family members and current airmen about the ongoing health study into potential links between cancer diagnoses and working with nuclear missiles, Gen. Thomas Bussiere, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, told attendees that acting Air Force Secretary Gary Ashworth and lawmakers have inquired about the investigation.
Ashworth is a former missile combat crew commander for the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, according to his service biography.
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"The congressional interest and support for this effort has not waned; it's actually increased," Bussiere said. "In fact, on the third day in office as the acting secretary of the Air Force, acting Secretary Ashworth requested an update on this study, literally in his third day in the seat."
"You not only have the interest, continued interest, in the uniformed members in the Department of the Air Force, you have the interest and attention of our senior acting political appointees," Bussiere added.
Lt. Col. John Severns, a spokesperson for Air Force Global Strike Command, told Military.com that delegations from the states that house America's ICBM bases -- Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming -- have also expressed interest in the study.
Thursday's town hall is just the latest during the Air Force's likely yearslong health and environmental study. The most recent revelations included information from the National Death Index, a centralized database of death records, that "did not identify statistically elevated mortality" among the missile community, a memo summarizing the study said.
Officials said there is still more information to digest. The next phase of the study will evaluate state cancer registries and a larger pool of data from across the country that "may provide deeper insights into the complex relationship between service in the [missile community] and cancer risk," the memo explaining the latest findings detailed.
"Additionally, efforts to promote health and wellness initiatives tailored to the unique needs of the [missile community] remain crucial in mitigating overall health risks, including cancer, within this community," the memo added.
A widespread study into cancer worries among America's nuclear missile service members began in 2023 when a Space Force Guardian and former missileer compiled a report detailing alarming numbers of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases among those who served at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.
The first phase of the study, involving initial data from Department of Defense medical records, showed elevated breast and prostate cancer rates, but broadening the investigation with additional data from the mortality index, as well as Department of Veterans Affairs electronic records and cancer registries, began to show lower rates.
Military.com reported on the worries among current and former missiles and maintainers in a series supported by the Pulitzer Center in which the newsroom revealed that small studies in the 2000s did not thoroughly investigate the concerns in that community as members began to worry that the chemicals they had been exposed to in missile silos had resulted in their cancer diagnoses and other illnesses.
Many of those service members and their families have started to fight for VA benefits, and some have been successful in those claims, Military.com reported.
The Air Force has made changes since the study began, including more frequent workplace inspections, better tracking of potentially toxic exposures, and more in-depth cleaning.
Air Force officials said during the town hall Thursday that a cleaning contract related to polychlorinated biphenyls -- carcinogens known as PCBs that are prevalent in the Cold War-era facilities -- that were detected in some of the Air Force facilities would be in place as soon as next week, pending final approval from the Environmental Protection Agency.
“We're not done, but we continue to move forward deliberately in this process,” Bussiere said during the town hall.
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