Military Probing Whether Cancers Are Linked To Nuclear Silo Work

An inert Minuteman III missile rests in a training launch tube at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota in 2014. Nine military officers who had worked decades ago at a nuclear

missile base in Montana, home to a vast field of 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos, have been diagnosed with blood cancer and there are “indications” the

disease may be linked to their service, according to military briefing slides obtained by The Associated Press. WASHINGTON (AP) — Nine military officers who had worked decades

ago at a nuclear missile base in Montana have been diagnosed with blood cancer and there are “indications” the disease may be linked to their service, according to military

briefing slides obtained by The Associated Press. One of the officers has died. All of the officers, known as missileers, were assigned as many as 25 years ago to Malmstrom

Air Force Base, home to a vast field of 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos. The nine officers were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a

January briefing by U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Daniel Sebeck. Missileers ride caged elevators deep underground into a small operations bunker encased in a thick wall of

concrete and steel. They remain there sometimes for days, ready to turn the launch keys if ordered to by the president. “There are indications of a possible association

between cancer and missile combat crew service at Malmstrom AFB,” Sebeck said in slides presented to his Space Force unit this month. The “disproportionate number of missileers

presenting with cancer, specifically lymphoma” was concerning, he said.