Webinar On-Demand: The Health Debt to America’s Missileers and Missile Maintainers

Video courtesy of the Pulitzer Center. United States, 2024.

Part of the "Fuel, Foul Air, and Fallout: The Health Tolls of Energy and Defense in the United States" webinar series

On Thursday, July 25, 2024, Thomas Novelly, Military.com reporter, and Bill Burich, director of the Torchlight Initiative and a former Missileer, discussed the linkage between exposure to carcinogenic chemicals like PCBs, radon, asbestos, and sodium chromate during Air Force members’ posts at ICBM missile bases and increased risks of blood cancers and other diseases. Pulitzer Center Senior Editor Susan Ferriss moderated the discussion.

Novelly said that in speaking with service members and their families, he found a “very patriotic group of Americans who felt slighted by the lack of transparency. The trust they put in [Military.com] was that we were bringing these issues to light, and I think, as a result, they were willing to open their doors and their hearts to us.”

“Harness that sense of community, harness that sense of pride,” Burich said to service members and their families interested in joining the Torchlight Initiative. “We are here to help you; you don’t have to do this alone.”

The Toxic Substance Control Act, which was passed in 1976, banned many of the chemicals used to construct, wire, and cool components in the ICBM and the Launch Control Center. Even so, some Missileers and Missile Maintainers reported that they cleaned toxic spills without personal protective equipment. The job was stressful and exhausting because service members had to be “on alert,” ready to fire the missile at any moment, for nearly 24 hours.

Following a government accountability report about high rates of exposure and illness among service members who work with ICBMs, the Air Force took steps to reduce exposure in missile facilities. They also designed short- and long-term studies to detect connections between exposure and illness in 2001 and 2005. These studies, however, found everything “safe and healthy,” according to Military.com. And, until 2023, tragic stories from veterans and their friends and families went unaddressed.

In 2023, a slide deck called the Malmstrom Initiative leaked from a small group of veterans who had served at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Malmstrom, Colorado. The deck documented stories of veterans and their families who served at the base stricken with terminal blood cancers and other illnesses. Novelly credited the Air Force for responding to the information quickly; the Air Force has since held Town Halls, changed exposure reporting policies, and updated technical orders. It is also currently conducting a long-term study.

“This could be any one of us,” said Burich about the stories of illness.

For many veterans and their families who have endured tragedy or long and expensive paths to recovery, however, the Air Force response isn’t enough. Burich directs the Torchlight Initiative, a volunteer non government organization dedicated to raising awareness and advocating for service members who worked with ICBMs. His community seeks stronger preventative care, additional studies and testimonials, and coverage from Veteran Affairs (VA).

Burich explained that the Torchlight Initiative was named so because he and his colleagues hope it will light the way to better healthcare and transparency. He says that the organization has a rigorous study about illnesses among service members who worked with ICBMs forthcoming.

To receive care for their illnesses from the VA, individual veterans must have “the receipts and the paperwork. For so many of them, it wasn’t documented,” Novelly said.

What also remains to be seen is if these procedural and occupational changes will result in larger, cultural shifts. Burich is heartened by an emergent culture of information sharing amongst service members “so we can figure out what some of these causations might be.”

Novelly notes that, recently, he has found that service members that he has spoken to inside of missile silos have been more “focused on health and safety over the past couple of months” in light of Air Force members’ collective action.

Both panelists hope these changes translate into healthier and more transparent service and retirement for Air Force members.

The Air Force promises that the Sentinel Program, an overhaul of America’s nuclear arsenal, will bring long-lasting occupational improvements. Meanwhile, Novelly and his team at Military.com will continue reporting on these developments, and Burich will continue pushing for more frequent medical screenings and VA care coverage.

Both Novelly and Burich emphasized the importance of involving the whole Air Force and medical communities in any solutions.

“The missileer community […] is so strong and supportive of one another. People were key to making this story work,” said Novelly.

One audience member said after the event: “I appreciated the timeline of the investigations into the health consequences facing this portion of our military veterans. It made me sad to learn how many decades it's taken for these cancers and other serious illnesses related to this service to both be recognized by the VA and for proper treatment to be provided.”

Index:

Missileer: a service member responsible for firing missiles

Missile Maintainer: a service member responsible for managing and repairing munitions and missiles

ICBM: The intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with over 3,400 miles in range designed to deliver a nuclear weapon.

PACT Act: The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise To Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 is a law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances” (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs).

Sentinel Program: “Sentinel is the weapon system proposed to replace the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system. It represents the modernization of the land-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad and would extend its capabilities through 2075” (Air Force Global Strike Command).

Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976: The law “provides EPA with authority to require reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures” (Environmental Protection Agency).