At a memorial service in 2022, veteran Air Force Capt. Monte Watts bumped into a fellow former Minuteman III nuclear missile operator, who told him that she had non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Watts knew other missileers with similar cancers. But the connection really hit home later that same January day, when the results of a blood test revealed that Watts himself had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“I don’t know if it was ironic or serendipitous or what the right word is, but there it was,” Watts said.

Within the community of U.S. service members who staff nuclear missile silos scattered across the Northern Rockies and Great Plains, suspicions had long been brewing that their workplaces were unsafe. Just months after Watts was diagnosed in 2022, Lt. Col. Danny Sebeck, a former Air Force missileer who had transferred to the U.S. Space Force, wrote a brief on a potential cancer cluster among people who served at Minuteman III launch control centers on Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.

Sebeck identified 36 former workers[1] who served primarily from 1993 to 2011 and had been diagnosed with cancer, including himself. Of those, 11 had non-Hodgkin lymphoma; three had died. The Air Force responded swiftly to Sebeck’s findings, launching a massive investigation[2] into cancer cases and the environment at three intercontinental ballistic missile bases and a California launch facility. The goal is to complete the research by the end of 2025.

The service has released portions of the studies as they conclude, holding online town halls and briefings to highlight its findings. But while former missileers say they are heartened by the rapid response, they remain concerned that the research, which crosses decades and includes thousands of ICBM personnel and administrative workers, may address too large a population or use statistical analyses that won’t show a connection between their illnesses and their military service.

They need that tie to expedite benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Historically, the Department of Defense has been slow to recognize potential environmental diseases. Veterans sickened by exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, Marines who drank contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and service members who lived and worked near burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan fought for years to have their illnesses acknowledged as related to military service.

In the case of the missileers, the Air Force already had studied potential contamination and cancer at Malmstrom in 2001[3] and 2005[4]. That research concluded that launch control centers were “safe and healthy working environments.” But with Sebeck’s presentation and the decision to pursue further investigation, Air Force Global Strike Command — the unit responsible for managing nuclear missile silos and aircraft-based nuclear weapons — said the earlier studies may not have included a large enough sampling of medical records to be comprehensive.

Sebeck, who serves as co-director of the Torchlight Initiative, an advocacy group that supports ICBM personnel and their families, told congressional Democrats on April 8[5] that the Defense Department has not accurately tracked exposures to the community, making it difficult for veterans to prove a link and obtain VA health care and disability compensation.

“I had to go to a VA person and pull some papers,” Sebeck said, referring to the government system for recording service members’ environmental risks. “It says that I visited Poland once. It doesn’t mention that I pulled 148 alerts in a launch control center with polychlorinated biphenyls and with this contaminated air and water.”

PCBs — And the Missileers Exposed to Them

PCBs are synthetic chemicals once used in industry, including missile control electrical components such as display screens, keyboards, and circuit breakers. They have been banned for manufacture since 1979, deemed toxic and a likely carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Air Force’s Missile Community Cancer Study compares 14 types of common cancers in the general U.S. population and the missile community and also studies the environments at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California to determine whether they may have contributed to the risk of developing cancer.

The Malmstrom, Warren, and Minot bases together field 400 Minuteman III missiles, the land-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad, which also includes submarine- and aircraft-launched nuclear weapons. The missiles are housed in silos spread across parts of Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska, staffed around the clock by missileers operating from underground, bunkerlike launch control centers.

So far, the Air Force investigation has found no “statistically elevated” deaths[6] from cancer in the missile community compared with the general population, and it found that the death rates for four types of common cancers — non-Hodgkin lymphoma, lung, colon and rectum, and prostate cancer — were significantly lower in missileers than in the general population.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma accounted for roughly 5.8% of all cancer deaths among people who worked in launch control centers from January 1979 to December 2020.

Early results, derived from Defense Department medical records, found elevated rates of breast and prostate cancers in the missile community, but a later analysis incorporating additional data did not support those findings. The studies also did not find increased rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Air Force officials noted during a June 4 online town hall, however, that these assessments are based on roughly half the data the service expects to review for its final epidemiological reports and cautioned against drawing conclusions given the limitations.

The final incidence report will include federal and state data, including information from civilian cancer registries, and delve into subgroups and exposures, which may “provide deeper insights into the complex relationship” between serving in the missile community and cancer risk, wrote Air Force Col. Richard Speakman in a September 2024 memo on the initial epidemiology results.

Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said during the June town hall that only the final results will determine whether the missile community’s cancer rates are higher than the general population’s.

Some lawmakers share the concern of missileers about the Air Force study. Following the release of a University of North Carolina review[7] of Torchlight Initiative data that showed higher rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma — at younger ages — among Malmstrom missileers, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) introduced an amendment[8] to a defense policy bill calling for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review health and safety conditions in the facilities.

“Let’s make sure that we have some outside experts working with the Air Force studying cancer rates with our ICBM missions,” Bacon posted July 30 on the social platform X. “We want to ensure credibility and that whatever results come out, we’ve done total due diligence.”

Regarding additional studies on the working environments at the installations and a possible relationship between exposures and cancer risk, Speakman, who commands the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, said Malmstrom had two types of PCBs that the other two missile wing bases did not.

He added that benzene, found in cigarette smoke, vehicle exhaust, and gasoline fumes, was the largest contributor to cancer risk in reviews of the bases.

The assessment concluded that health risks to missileers is “low, but it’s not zero,” Speakman said. He said it would be appropriate to monitor the health of launch control workers.

Next Steps

Watts, whose story has been highlighted by the Torchlight Initiative, has asked the Defense Department’s inspector general to investigate — the watchdog agency referred his request to Global Strike Command — and is closely watching the Air Force research. He said the bulk of the cancer cases reported to Torchlight occurred in the 2000s, when ICBM personnel still used technology that contained PCBs, burned classified material such as treated paper and plastic coding devices indoors, and possibly were exposed to contaminated water.

“I open the door and there’s guys standing there in pressurized suits with sampling equipment,” Watts recalled. “They said, ‘We’re here to check for contaminated water.’ I look at my crew commander, and we’re standing there in cotton uniforms. I said, ‘Do you see anything wrong with this?’”

Launch control operators no longer burn code tapes indoors and the Air Force has made improvements to air circulation in the centers. Sebeck wants Congress to consider including missileers and others sickened by exposure to base contamination in the PACT Act, landmark legislation that mandates health care and benefits for veterans sickened by burn pits and other pollutants.

“It’s documented that there is a large cancer cluster in Montana, probably also in Wyoming. People act surprised, but all they have to do is go to the oncology office in Denver. I can find my missileer buddies there. We are sitting in the same chairs getting chemotherapy,” Sebeck said.

Air Force Global Strike Command spokesperson Maj. Lauren Linscott said in response to Sebeck’s remarks that the unit understands the impact of cancer on its personnel and is committed to supporting them.

“While current findings are preliminary and no conclusions can yet be drawn, we are dedicated to a rigorous, peer-reviewed, data-driven process to better understand potential health risks because the safety of our airmen is our top priority,” Linscott said.

Bills introduced in the House and Senate would address the situation. In addition to Bacon’s amendment, the Senate version of an annual defense policy bill would require a “deep cleaning” of launch control centers every five years until the sites are decommissioned as a new ICBM, the Sentinel, replaces the Minuteman IIIs.

The Air Force aims to release its final epidemiological report by the end of the year.

___

(KFF Health News[9] is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF [10]— the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.)

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

© Copyright 2025 KFF Health News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more

Pentagon Commanders Meeting

Facing a deadline next week on whether to sign a statement acknowledging new restrictions[1] on how they do their jobs or risk being thrown out of the Pentagon, journalists who cover the U.S. military appear headed toward a showdown with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Negotiations over changing some of the restrictions “have not been as successful as we had hoped,” the Pentagon Press Association said Wednesday.

The rules limit where reporters can go without an official escort and convey “an unprecedented message of intimidation” for anyone in the Defense Department who might want to speak to a reporter without the approval of Hegseth's team, the association said in a statement.

When the new policy was issued two weeks ago, news organizations were concerned that signing the rules conveyed agreement with them, including to a restriction[2] that they not report on any news — even if unclassified — without official approval.

The Pentagon is now saying it can't block journalists from reporting news but can revoke the credentials of reporters who ask anyone in the Defense Department for information without an official OK.

“We acknowledge and appreciate that the Pentagon is no longer requiring reporters to express agreement with the new policy as a condition for obtaining press credentials,” the press association said. “But the Pentagon is still asking us to affirm in writing our ‘understanding’ of policies that appear designed to stifle a free press and potentially expose us to prosecution for simply doing our jobs.”

The association is not making any recommendations about whether members should or should not sign. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which has also been talking to the Pentagon about the policy, said it still has concerns and expects “that it will pose a significant impediment as journalists weigh with their employers whether or not to sign.”

RCFP did not respond to messages asking whether it was recommending a course of action for reporters.

Changing rules that have worked for years under different presidents 

The Pentagon Press Association also said it was surprised to learn that the department was planning to move the press corps from its current work space, suggesting it will likely further isolate journalists.

Pentagon reporters have been operating under the same rules since the Eisenhower administration, including President Donald Trump's first term in office, the association said, and any suggestion that they are prowling in offices where they are not allowed is preposterous.

A Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

In an interview with Fox News last weekend, Hegseth said that “we’re not playing games. We’re not allowing everybody to roam around the building.”

“Yes, you can be in the press area, briefing room, but if you want to move around the building, you’re going to have a badge, it’s going to be cleared, you’re going to be escorted when you do so, and we have expectations that you’re not soliciting classified or sensitive information,” he said. “I think the American people see things like that as absolute common sense. The Pentagon press corps can squeal all they want.”

Trump has applied pressure on news organizations in several ways, with ABC News[3] and CBS News[4] settling lawsuits related to their coverage. Trump has also filed lawsuits against The New York Times[5] and Wall Street Journal[6] and moved to choke off funding for government-run services like the Voice of America[7] and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty[8].

“Limiting the media's ability to report on the U.S. military fails to honor the American families who have entrusted their sons and daughters to serve in it, or the taxpayers responsible for giving the department hundreds of billions of dollars a year,” the Pentagon Press Association said in its statement.

“The American people deserve to know how their military is being run.”

© Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more

The Fort Campbell Falcons run onto the field before facing the Fort Knox Eagles at Fryar Stadium on Fort Campbell, Ky., for the 50th meeting between the football teams.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Football teams at Fort Campbell and Fort Knox high schools were sidelined Friday by the federal government shutdown[1], which has paused extracurricular activities at the schools for military families.

The schools on the historic Army posts remain open for normal instructional activities, but the congressional stalemate has left the students and their families in limbo when it comes to other school-related pursuits. Fort Knox is in central Kentucky while Fort Campbell straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

Both football teams were scheduled to play Friday but their games were postponed. But the halt to extracurricular activities — even practices — applies to much more than football.

The Fort Campbell High girls volleyball team was on a historic run, having compiled an 11-2 record for a school without a winning season for 15 years in the sport. The squad's senior night game was called off Thursday and two other upcoming games could be as well if the federal shutdown continues.

Mary Hughes, the volleyball team's coach, said Friday that her players have shown “so much grit and tenacity” but for now have no control over how their season ends up.

“Everyone’s just really sad," she said. "Life as a military child is hard enough. They deal with so much and sports is one aspect of their lives that is so important to them. Gives them self-esteem, confidence, teamwork. And for that to be taken away just because we live on the post … is just incredibly unfair.”

Bianca Carolina said she's saddened that her son’s football team at Fort Campbell High had to postpone its game. She said she’s concerned the shutdown could drag on, affecting the rest of the season. Her son, Jaeden, began practicing for the season back in January.

Fort Campbell’s football team was scheduled to play Trigg County, Kentucky, on Friday, but that game was rescheduled to Oct. 30, Trigg County High School athletics director Doug Gloyd said Friday.

“It’s very disheartening, but I’m grateful and thankful they were able to reschedule,” Carolina said. “They put a lot of time into football season.”

Carolina, 36, works on post at Fort Campbell and is currently furloughed during the shutdown.

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell has intervened in the matter. The Republican senator wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday, asking that athletics and extracurriculars at the schools be designated as activities allowed to proceed despite the shutdown.

Jerry Gilliam, the judge-executive in Christian County, Kentucky, which includes a portion of Fort Campbell, was among those who asked the Republican senator to get involved.

“These young people already carry unique burdens as sons and daughters of U.S. servicemembers, and this additional barrier only deepens their sacrifice,” Gilliam said in writing to McConnell.

The shutdown has disrupted sports at other military post high schools, including Camp Lejeune’s high school football team in North Carolina. Camp Lejeune’s host this week, Northside High School, moved up their homecoming game to be played Tuesday, before the shutdown took effect Wednesday.

The Department of Defense Education Activity, known as DoDEA, manages prekindergarten through 12th grade educational programs for the Department of Defense. It said Friday that its schools will remain open for normal instructional operations during the government shutdown.

“However, sporting events, sports practices and all extracurricular activities are not considered excepted activities during a lapse in appropriations," it said in a statement. "As a result, these activities, including those held outside of the school day, will remain paused for the duration of the shutdown.”

© Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more

Pentagon Commanders Meeting

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accused the independent watchdog[1] for the Pentagon of being “weaponized” and says he's overhauling the inspector general’s office, upending the way that service members report abuse and other problems in the ranks.

Hegseth unveiled the plans during a speech at an unusual gathering[2] of hundreds of top military leaders this week. He also signed a memo ordering the inspector general to identify anyone who makes a complaint instead of letting them be anonymous, to dismiss any complaints the inspector general deems “non-credible,” and to set new, tighter timelines for complaints to be filed and investigations to be completed.

Along with a decree stating that the military's policy on “hazing, bullying, and harassment is overly broad,” Hegseth's directives have raised concerns among advocates and experts who say the changes would undo years of progress that have helped protect women and minorities from abuse and would shutter avenues to file legitimate complaints.

It is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to radically reshape the community of inspectors general[3] tasked with rooting out waste, fraud and abuse at government agencies. More than a dozen watchdogs were fired in January[4] amid a larger dismantling of public integrity guardrails since President Donald Trump took office.

Hegseth Takes Aim at the Inspector General as He Faces Signal Investigation 

The changes are necessary to fix a process that “has been weaponized — putting complainers, ideologues and poor performers in the driver’s seat,” Hegseth told military leaders Tuesday, without offering evidence.

Hegseth is overhauling the office as he himself is under investigation[5] by the inspector general over his use of the Signal messaging app, where he shared sensitive information about military strikes[6] in a group chat that inadvertently included a journalist. He also shared the information in other chats that included his wife and brother[7].

Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told reporters[8] in August that Hegseth had made a statement as part of that investigation — one of the last steps in the process.

Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor for the Air Force and a Virginia-based attorney who often represents people who file complaints with the inspector general, questioned the need for Hegseth’s directive.

“This is based upon people that he hangs out with complaining about the process versus any kind of study or data that shows that the IG takes too long or there’s this problem with serial complainers,” Christensen said. He added, “I don’t know of any data that shows there’s a crisis of serial complaints.”

Advocates Fear a Chilling Effect on Troops 

Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force lawyer and military justice advocate, said she worries the changes will have a major chilling effect on troops coming forward to report sexual harassment, bullying and racism.

She noted that by eliminating anonymous reporting, Hegseth is planning to shut down a process that has been "proven to bring to light significant issues that affect morale and discipline within units."

“Survey after survey after survey has shown that service members are afraid of their own command chain, and when they’re afraid of their own command chain, problems go on unsolved,” she said.

Despite years of messaging and establishing specialized response teams, the military has continued to struggle with sexual assault and violence toward women.

In a recent case, Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen's dismembered remains were discovered after she had been missing for more than two months from Fort Hood in Texas in 2020. The killing sparked a movement of women speaking out[9] about sexual abuse in the military and led to changes in how they can report it.

An Army investigation[10] later found that, among other issues, there was a climate that tolerated sexual harassment and assault, and that there was a significant lack of confidence in the command chain, and therefore reluctance to report abusive behavior.

Hegseth Says Racism and Sexual Harassment Will Be Targeted 

In his speech this week, Hegseth seemed to anticipate criticism of his changes and stressed to the assembled military brass that “of course, being a racist has been illegal in our formation since 1948 — the same goes for sexual harassment — both are wrong and illegal.” He said “those kinds of infractions will be ruthlessly enforced.”

While VanLandingham acknowledged Hegseth’s position, she said he is making “changes to systems that have been shown to help reduce sexual harassment and sexual assault” and were created in response to widespread systemic racial and sexual discrimination and harassment.

Hegseth’s memo also pointedly noted that an article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice — the legal code that governs military personnel — prohibits false statements and that violators “will be held appropriately accountable.”

Both Christiansen and VanLandingham said such wording will almost certainly discourage people from reporting concerns and complaints.

“The people who are coming forward are taking a huge risk for their career already, and now he’s making it worse by putting a target on their back,” Christensen said.

VanLandingham added: “That’s not how you instill confidence in a system to be able to report things that absolutely need to be reported."

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more

More Articles …