WEBVTT 00:19.770 --> 00:21.889 When we find out that one of us has 00:21.889 --> 00:24.450 non-Hodgkin lymphoma , we , we take it 00:24.450 --> 00:25.450 very personally . 00:33.840 --> 00:36.259 Welcome everybody . This is our uh our 00:36.259 --> 00:38.900 latest update , uh , to the community 00:38.900 --> 00:41.349 of interest on our cancer study for our 00:41.349 --> 00:44.139 missile community , uh , folks . The 00:44.139 --> 00:46.306 missile Community Cancer study started 00:46.306 --> 00:48.472 in January of 2023 when it was brought 00:48.472 --> 00:50.417 to my attention by Air Force Gloal 00:50.417 --> 00:52.528 Strike Command surgeon general at the 00:52.528 --> 00:54.528 time where there was a concern that 00:54.528 --> 00:56.528 there was some relationship between 00:56.528 --> 00:58.695 service and the missile community with 00:58.695 --> 01:00.750 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma . I contacted 01:00.750 --> 01:02.861 the secretary of the Air Force at the 01:02.861 --> 01:02.520 time , and the chief of staff of the 01:02.520 --> 01:04.576 Air Force at the time , and I said I 01:04.576 --> 01:06.631 want to be in charge of this , not , 01:06.631 --> 01:08.576 not that I , uh , have any lack of 01:08.576 --> 01:10.339 faith , uh , um , with other 01:10.339 --> 01:12.672 organizations being leading this effort , 01:12.830 --> 01:14.886 but I wanted to make sure it was the 01:14.886 --> 01:17.108 operational command responsible for the 01:17.108 --> 01:19.274 mission that had the direct connection 01:19.274 --> 01:21.441 and uh that's when we started building 01:21.441 --> 01:20.620 the team . 01:29.650 --> 01:31.660 Two questions . One , did we cause 01:31.660 --> 01:34.180 cancer ? Um , and 2 , are people safe 01:34.180 --> 01:36.279 today ? And so there are two kind of 01:36.279 --> 01:38.335 separate questions and two different 01:38.335 --> 01:40.168 specialties that can answer that 01:40.168 --> 01:42.335 question . The study was designed with 01:42.335 --> 01:43.946 two primary components , the 01:43.946 --> 01:46.112 environmental sampling efforts and the 01:46.112 --> 01:49.779 epidemiological review . Um , I would 01:49.779 --> 01:51.980 say that , uh , the , the two parts of 01:51.980 --> 01:54.147 the study working together , um , have 01:54.147 --> 01:55.924 a , have an uh an additive or a 01:55.924 --> 01:58.300 synergistic effect because the 01:58.300 --> 02:00.411 environmental sampling efforts really 02:00.411 --> 02:02.580 captures the current state of the 02:02.580 --> 02:04.136 missile community's working 02:04.136 --> 02:05.913 environments . Uh , whereas the 02:05.913 --> 02:08.136 epidemiological review , uh , goes back 02:08.136 --> 02:10.302 and covers the , uh , the , the cancer 02:10.302 --> 02:12.636 incidence and the cancer mortality , uh , 02:12.636 --> 02:14.747 for , for decades , and we're able to 02:14.747 --> 02:16.747 evaluate the cancer risk for , uh , 02:16.747 --> 02:18.913 generations past for , for the missile 02:18.913 --> 02:20.024 community as well . 02:35.820 --> 02:38.309 So we , we did , uh , numerous , uh , 02:38.320 --> 02:40.750 constituents in , um , in the water , 02:41.309 --> 02:43.420 specifically looking at like volatile 02:43.420 --> 02:45.642 organic compounds and uh pesticides and 02:45.642 --> 02:47.309 herbicides that may have been 02:47.309 --> 02:49.253 introduced to the wells out in the 02:49.253 --> 02:51.087 missile field from uh , from the 02:51.087 --> 02:53.142 surrounding agriculture . Uh , so we 02:53.142 --> 02:55.253 did multiple rounds of testing across 02:55.253 --> 02:57.365 different seasons . Uh , I think they 02:57.365 --> 02:59.531 They did 3 different rounds of testing 02:59.531 --> 02:59.285 like a spring , a summer , and a fall , 02:59.535 --> 03:01.757 um , just to see if certain things were 03:01.757 --> 03:04.324 higher . We took a lot of soil , water , 03:04.574 --> 03:07.684 air , and swipes . Swipes are of course 03:07.975 --> 03:10.142 the big thing in the study because the 03:10.142 --> 03:12.253 swipes were what helped us figure out 03:12.253 --> 03:14.455 what where the PCPs were , what their 03:14.455 --> 03:15.677 concentrations were . 03:32.690 --> 03:35.809 20th Air Force uh got right involved 03:35.809 --> 03:37.698 and started setting up how can we 03:37.698 --> 03:39.753 actually mitigate and clean up those 03:39.753 --> 03:43.250 PCPs . At first it was amazing airmen 03:43.250 --> 03:45.417 and civilians going out there to clean 03:45.417 --> 03:47.250 those sites and get them down to 03:47.250 --> 03:50.690 acceptable EPA levels , but now we have 03:50.690 --> 03:52.523 turned to a contract service who 03:52.523 --> 03:55.250 specializes in PCB cleaning . So we're 03:55.250 --> 03:57.361 using them to clean those sites . And 03:57.361 --> 03:59.472 then of course if it's something that 03:59.472 --> 04:01.472 can't be cleaned , we're looking at 04:01.472 --> 04:03.583 equipment replacement , we're looking 04:03.583 --> 04:05.583 at , you know , personal protective 04:05.583 --> 04:07.690 equipment . What do we need to do to 04:07.690 --> 04:10.289 keep the members safe when they serve 04:10.289 --> 04:12.456 in those sites ? And until those sites 04:12.456 --> 04:14.678 are safe , we do not let people back in 04:14.678 --> 04:14.050 them . 04:25.670 --> 04:28.130 I can't test the past environmentally . 04:28.420 --> 04:30.531 I can't go back and say , well , what 04:30.531 --> 04:32.642 was the health risks 10 years ago ? I 04:32.642 --> 04:35.380 can't test that . All we can do is then 04:35.380 --> 04:38.140 look at the people that served our 04:38.140 --> 04:40.251 country , that served inside the miss 04:40.251 --> 04:42.473 cancer field , that served our national 04:42.473 --> 04:44.529 defense . Did they have an increased 04:44.529 --> 04:47.130 cancer burden ? With time . We started 04:47.130 --> 04:49.352 with the most accessible data sources , 04:49.352 --> 04:51.463 those available uh to us from the DOD 04:51.463 --> 04:53.686 electronic healthcare record , uh , and 04:53.686 --> 04:55.741 the DOD cancer registry system , and 04:55.741 --> 04:57.908 then we added on the electronic health 04:57.908 --> 05:00.609 record data from the VA and the uh 05:00.609 --> 05:03.290 cancer registries from the VA . For 05:03.290 --> 05:05.346 cancer mortality , it's a little bit 05:05.346 --> 05:07.290 more straightforward . Uh , we use 05:07.290 --> 05:09.512 national death index data . And and now 05:09.512 --> 05:11.850 we are pulling in data from uh 05:11.850 --> 05:13.906 individual state cancer registries . 05:19.100 --> 05:21.970 So the study is very personal to me , 05:22.179 --> 05:24.649 um , not only because I'm a missileer , 05:24.820 --> 05:27.100 but also because all my friends are 05:27.100 --> 05:28.899 missileers . We're a very small 05:28.899 --> 05:31.089 community and we all know each other . 05:31.510 --> 05:33.739 So when we find out that one of us has 05:33.739 --> 05:36.299 non-Hodgkin lymphoma , we , we take it 05:36.299 --> 05:40.190 very personally . I know some some 05:40.190 --> 05:43.989 older missileers that I've either come 05:43.989 --> 05:46.790 in contact with through different 05:47.149 --> 05:49.750 different travels that one right now 05:49.750 --> 05:52.790 that's going through um chemo and has 05:52.790 --> 05:56.160 cancer . If it's related to maintenance 05:56.160 --> 05:58.359 in general , I I can't say , but I do 05:58.359 --> 06:00.470 personally know about 4 people who've 06:00.470 --> 06:02.748 been diagnosed with cancer in the past . 06:05.109 --> 06:07.276 One of the guys that I pulled a couple 06:07.276 --> 06:09.442 of alerts with , at least in in memory 06:09.442 --> 06:11.665 was Mark Holmes , uh , and Mark was one 06:11.665 --> 06:13.998 of the , one of the gentlemen that , um , 06:13.998 --> 06:16.220 passed a couple of years in Hodginson's 06:16.220 --> 06:18.220 lymphoma . It's , it's odd to , you 06:18.220 --> 06:20.387 know , be at 41 and and know that some 06:20.387 --> 06:22.442 of my peers and some of my , some of 06:22.442 --> 06:24.331 the folks that , you know , I , I 06:24.331 --> 06:26.331 paddle around with and bite up with 06:26.331 --> 06:28.276 aren't here with us anymore and it 06:28.276 --> 06:30.498 might be potentially due to things that 06:30.498 --> 06:32.665 they did . Um While they were on alert 06:32.665 --> 06:35.730 with me . My ROTC detachment commander , 06:35.869 --> 06:37.779 um , when I was coming up , um , 06:38.230 --> 06:40.510 actually did die of cancer fairly 06:40.510 --> 06:42.732 recently , um , was a missileer as well 06:42.732 --> 06:46.070 here at , uh , Malmstrom . It hit home 06:46.070 --> 06:48.109 to me at that point in time , um , 06:48.230 --> 06:50.286 because this was somebody who really 06:50.286 --> 06:52.286 helped mentor me quite a bit , uh , 06:52.286 --> 06:54.452 through my commissioning source , um , 06:54.452 --> 06:56.619 and part of why I got involved in this 06:56.619 --> 06:58.619 process . I cared quite a bit about 06:58.619 --> 07:00.730 that , and he was an important guy to 07:00.730 --> 06:59.790 me . 07:06.519 --> 07:09.679 So are the concerns being heard ? Yes , 07:09.929 --> 07:12.369 much more now than they were in the 07:12.369 --> 07:14.730 past . Um , you know , I remember when 07:14.730 --> 07:16.897 I first started pulling crew in 2006 , 07:16.897 --> 07:18.952 it was kind of one of those like you 07:18.952 --> 07:20.952 had to be losing a leg or an arm or 07:20.952 --> 07:23.063 other significant body part to not go 07:23.063 --> 07:25.063 on alert , um . Same thing with the 07:25.063 --> 07:27.119 defenders and the maintainers . Um , 07:27.119 --> 07:29.119 we've definitely come a long way in 07:29.119 --> 07:31.230 terms of addressing people's concerns 07:31.230 --> 07:33.452 and making sure that , hey , things are 07:33.452 --> 07:35.674 safer and better for them . Um , it was 07:35.674 --> 07:37.897 really . Really nice , quite honestly , 07:37.897 --> 07:39.897 to sit on those teleconferences and 07:39.897 --> 07:42.230 then listen to General Brussier and the , 07:42.230 --> 07:45.480 the generals up there explain . And a 07:45.480 --> 07:47.799 no filtered environment of , hey , this 07:47.799 --> 07:50.279 is why we're doing this . It's very 07:50.529 --> 07:53.250 encouraging to see a much more robust 07:53.250 --> 07:55.429 study . It's very encouraging to see 07:55.429 --> 07:57.485 our senior leaders , not just at the 07:57.485 --> 07:59.651 wing commander level , but at the four 07:59.651 --> 08:01.596 star level , saying that this is a 08:01.596 --> 08:01.010 priority . We're gonna get to the 08:01.010 --> 08:03.066 bottom of this . Uh , we owe this to 08:03.066 --> 08:05.066 not only our active duty airmen but 08:05.066 --> 08:06.899 also to our , our veterans , our 08:06.899 --> 08:08.899 retirees and anybody who was , uh , 08:08.899 --> 08:11.177 exposed to this particular environment , 08:11.177 --> 08:13.232 and we're not done yet . We're gonna 08:13.232 --> 08:15.288 continue , uh , doing the research , 08:15.288 --> 08:17.399 continue to , uh , test the levels of 08:17.399 --> 08:19.566 whatever contaminants we have in those 08:19.566 --> 08:21.288 work environments . We have an 08:21.288 --> 08:23.121 obligation to make sure that the 08:23.121 --> 08:25.343 environments , the weapon systems , the 08:25.343 --> 08:27.343 platforms that we ask our airmen to 08:27.343 --> 08:29.454 perform their , their mission and are 08:29.454 --> 08:31.566 safe and if it , if there's risk that 08:31.566 --> 08:33.788 we have known risks we understand those 08:33.788 --> 08:35.788 risks and then we do what we can to 08:35.788 --> 08:38.559 mitigate those risks . help the next 08:38.559 --> 08:40.615 generation can come into this career 08:40.615 --> 08:43.640 field , come to this job , and embrace 08:43.640 --> 08:45.640 it and love it and succeed and that 08:45.640 --> 08:47.696 they don't have to feel like they're 08:47.696 --> 08:49.862 constantly looking over their shoulder 08:49.862 --> 08:52.359 or being cautious of exposure to 08:52.359 --> 08:56.320 something . I probably think more about 08:56.320 --> 08:58.376 our current missileers , the younger 08:58.376 --> 09:01.640 missileers , and what we can do now to 09:01.640 --> 09:04.049 protect them . So that 20 years from 09:04.049 --> 09:06.409 now they're not facing the same battles 09:06.409 --> 09:08.631 that a lot of our retired and separated 09:08.631 --> 09:12.349 missileers are facing . For 09:12.349 --> 09:14.571 airmen that perform this mission in our 09:14.571 --> 09:16.682 missile wings , uh , we are dedicated 09:16.682 --> 09:18.460 to make sure we understand what 09:18.460 --> 09:20.682 environment you're operating in . We're 09:20.682 --> 09:22.349 dedicated to fielding the new 09:22.349 --> 09:24.405 capabilities that eliminate the risk 09:24.405 --> 09:26.349 within the current construct , and 09:26.349 --> 09:28.405 we're dedicated to make sure that we 09:28.405 --> 09:30.405 have the institutional processes in 09:30.405 --> 09:32.627 place to account for uh health risks in 09:32.627 --> 09:33.349 the future for you and your families .