Early results show lower cancer rates than expected among Air Force nuclear missile personnel

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force is reporting the first data on cancer diagnoses among troops who worked with nuclear missiles and, while the data is only about 25% complete, the service says the numbers are lower than what they expected.

The Air Force said so far it has identified 23 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer, in the first stage of its review of cancers among service members who operated, maintained or supported silo-based Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.

To identify those cases the Air Force looked at all missile community personnel who used the military health care system, or TRICARE, from 2001 to 2021, a population they said is about 84,000 people and includes anyone who operated, maintained, secured or otherwise supported the Air Force nuclear mission.

Within that community about 8,000 served as missileers, young men and women who are underground in launch control capsules for 24 to 48 hours at a time — ready to fire the silo-based Minuteman missiles if ordered to by the president.

The Air Force review of cancers among service members who are assigned to its nuclear missile mission was prompted by January 2023 reports that nine missile launch officers who had served at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The 23 cases identified so far are lower than what would be expected over the 20-year time frame when compared to similar incidence rates in the U.S. general population, the Air Force said. Based on National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data on the incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma for the same time frame, Air Force researchers would expect to find about 80 NHL cases in the larger 84,000-person