WASHINGTON — The top Air Force general in charge of the nation's air- and ground-launched nuclear missiles has requested an official investigation into the number of officers who are reporting blood cancer diagnoses after serving at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.
It was not immediately clear if that assessment would be limited to Malmstrom, or if it would include similar nuclear missile facilities at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. The Air Force told the AP last Sunday that its medical teams were looking into the issue. Bussiere's request elevates that look into formal review conducted by the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine.
Concern about 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 least 455 Space Force officers, including its highest-ranking officer, new Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, served as missileers.