The Air Force stood up the Site Activation Task Force Detachment 11 at Malmstrom Air Force Base on April 4 as part of its intercontinental ballistic missile modernization effort.

Gen. Thomas Bussiere, Air Force Global Strike Command Commander,presided over the ceremony as Lt. Col. John Mayer assumed command of the new detachment, which will oversee the daily operations and activities during the implementation of the Sentinel system upgrade, including the construction of facilities required to operate the new missile system.

A detachment will be located at all three missile wings plus Vandenberg Space Force Base where the Air Force conducts most ICBM related testing.

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The detachments are meant to coordinate subject matter experts from across military and civilian agencies to “identify and execute the necessary tasks, objectives and timeliness of the Sentinel program,” according to the Air Force.

Similar site activation task forces were used in the 1960s for the Minuteman missile system installation, according to the Air Force.

Bussiere said that nuclear deterrence started at Malmstrom with the first Minuteman that went on alert in October of 1962.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” he said of standing up the Sentinel activation task forces.

The first missile went on alert to send a clear message to the Russians, Bussiere said, and airmen remain on alert today ensuring that the missiles are always ready if needed.

With Sentinel, the U.S. will do something it’s never done before, since it chose to replace the weapons system at all three wings essentially simultaneously, that it will maintain full operating capability of Minuteman while transitioning to Sentinel, he said.

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“It’s the most complex undertaking” the U.S. has ever done, Bussiere said.

He said the nation, as well as allies, were relying on the nuclear deterrent, and activating the detachment is a first step in fielding the new weapon system.

Similar detachments were activated at Vandenberg in California in March and at F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming earlier this week. Bussiere said the Minot detachment would be activated sometime next month.

Bussiere said the Sentinel project is more complex than Eisenhower’s interstate system installation.

Mayer, who began his career as a missileer at Malmstrom with the 10th Missile Squadron, said that the success or failure of the Sentinel transition depends on the teamwork of those involved.

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To start, Mayer said the detachment is him and three contractors from BAE and Delta Solutions.

It will grow to not yet known total over the coming months and years, he said, to about 200 people, many from other organizations that will be hosted by the detachment at Malmstrom for the project.

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He said eventually it will likely include about 30-50 people from AFGSC.

The Sentinel program is being restructured following last summer’s Nunn-McCurdy certification process, which was prompted by significant cost overruns.

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In January 2024, the Air Force notified Congress that the Sentinel program exceeded its baseline cost projections, causing a critical breach under the federal Nunn-McCurdy Act, which occurs if the program or average unit procurement cost increases by 25 percent of more over the baseline.

The total program acquisition cost for a “reasonably modified Sentinel program” are now estimated at $140.9 billion, an increase of 81 percent compared to the program’s Milestone B decision in September 2020 when the Air Force awarded a $13.3 billion GBSD engineering and manufacturing development contract to Northrop Grumman.

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The Sentinel program hasn’t been halted, but “the Air Force has suspended work on specific parts of the project while the program office determines the best way forward,” which includes restructuring the program and assessing the acquisition strategy from a technical and contractual standpoint, Capt. Kaylee Schanda, a public affairs officer for the Secretary of the Air Force, told The Electric earlier this year.

As of now, F.E. Warren is set to be the first Sentinel installation, followed by Malmstrom, then Minot, but that schedule could change as the Air Force restructures the program.

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Mayer said that for now, they’re in preparation mode, coordinating on facility design for military construction and trying to assess the manpower needs to prepare Malmstrom for Sentinel.

He said F.E. is leading the pack since they’re first in line on military and utility corridor construction underway, but Mayer’s off base work begins immediately in terms of building relationships with the local community to understand their concerns and share current information.

Community relations is a major component of his work and he said the delays in the overall Sentinel design don’t hold that back and Mayer said he plans to get more proactive.

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Construction on base has been underway for the new weapons generation facility and he said more construction is slated to start this summer.

Off base, he said teams will begin environmental assessments this summer.

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Mayer said they probably won’t be wearing military uniforms, but will be in the missile complex beginning to interact with landowners on the environmental assessment process for easements.

He said the workforce hubs are tied to the overall acquisition strategy that is under review so he doesn’t have details on that plan yet.

For launch facilities, he said, the Air Force already owns that land but this summer’s work on environmental assessments will more be tied to the hardened intersite cable system, or HICS, which connects launch control centers to launch facilities to provide the primary communication for the missile command lines.

The Air Force is planning to host townhalls in the area May 13-15 to update the community on the Sentinel project. The times and locations for those events haven’t yet been released.