First on-base Sentinel construction to start this summer at Malmstrom
Corrected 3:30 p.m. Feb. 12 to correct that WET was a Northrop Grumman subcontractor, not Air Force contract
Work on the Air Force’s Sentinel missile system that will replace the existing Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system is continuing and construction for on-base infrastructure will begin this summer.
The Air Force has scheduled a round of town halls for the Malmstrom Air Force Base area for March 31-April 2, but exact locations and times have not yet been released.
Lt. Col. John Mayer, the Sentinel site activation task force commander for Malmstrom, gave an update on the project during the Feb. 5 Great Falls Development Alliance board meeting.
The Air Force had initially planned to use the existing Minuteman silos, but about a year ago, decided to drill new holes for new silos.
Mayer said the Air Force determined that the infrastructure for the existing silos is too old for it to be cost effective to reuse them for the new system.
The Air Force will mostly use land it already owns, Mayer said, but will have to require some new land.
Currently, the Air Force is exploring use of the former 564th Missile Squadron area and last year, conducted geotechnical boring at about a dozen sites.
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Mayer said they plan to complete boring on the remaining sites at the 564th this year and a supplemental environmental impact statement is expected soon to address the potential use of the formerly decommissioned squadron.
Mayer said that the Northrop Grumman subcontracted WET, a Montana firm, for that geotechnical work.
Environmental surveys are also being conducted in the existing missile field and will be done in the 564th area this summer.
In an email to The Electric last fall, an Air Force spokesperson said that using the 564th for new silos would allow the Air Force to install the Sentinel system without interrupting current Minuteman ICBM operations, a task the Air Force has never attempted.
Sentinel will have additional capabilities, Mayer said, most of which can’t be discussed publicly due to their sensitive nature, but the new system will include a wing-wide command and control system. Currently, each squadron has its own and can’t be accessed across squadrons.
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Sentinel will also have greater remote diagnostic information, making it easier for maintenance crews who often only get general alarms from the existing system but aren’t sure of the exact issue until they’re on site.
Mayer said they’ll break ground on the $30 million new access gate, the first new Sentinel construction on base, this spring and summer. The gate will be the access point for the rest of the upcoming Sentinel construction on base.
Next year, Sentinel infrastructure work will begin on base, estimated at $212 million, for power, a new water tower and other utilities in an area of the base that didn’t previously need such infrastructure, followed by a new 180,000-square-foot consolidated maintenance facility.
Over the decades, the base has largely repurposed buildings designed for flying missions and Mayer said this is the first time designing facilities specifically for the ICBM mission at Malmstrom, with about $1.2 billion in total Sentinel related construction planned for Malmstrom.
Base construction projects remain on track, despite delays in the Sentinel missile system development, Mayer said, since much of that work can be done without the missile specifics.
Construction is also underway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for the Sentinel testing facilities, he said, and the Air Force took a silo offline at F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming for testing.
Malmstrom remains second in the Sentinel fielding order at this point and Mayer said they likely do one squadron at a time, but don’t yet have a timeline for installation.
He said they hope to have more information for the town halls later this spring.
Last fall, Cascade County Commissioners accepted a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation to fund a temporary community installation liaison for the Sentinel project.
The community economic adjustment assistance for advance planning grant provides $179,949 with a $20,058 in-kind county match over 18 months.
The grant includes six deliverables to be completed by March 2027:
- a communications strategy plan
- a community readiness implementation plan
- develop a community infrastructure priority needs list for the Sentinel project
- create informative briefing materials pertaining to the grant scope during the grant term
- formalize the Central Montana Defense Coalition Sentinel Project Task Force
- develop and implement a performance measure reporting system
The grant will fund a temporary full-time Cascade County employee who will report directly to the commission as well as most of the travel and other expenses associated with the effort.
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Commissioner Joe Briggs said that the county will manage the grant, but it will focus on all of the counties, cities and entities within the Malmstrom Air Force Base missile field.
Briggs told The Electric on Feb. 6 that the county had received a “nice pool of applicants” that human resources will begin reviewing next week and then they expected to start interviews.
Other than Cascade and Lewis and Clark counties, the others included in the Malmstrom missile field are “rural counties with small populations and constrained resources that will make their ability to manage the significant impacts of the modernization very difficult,” according to the county staff report.
The county position will work with Lt. Col. John Mayer, who earlier this year, assumed command of the Sentinel Site Activation Task Force, Detachment 11, which was established in April 2024.
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The grant “supports Cascade County, Montana, and regional partners to coordinate the necessary adjustments to local public services and infrastructure for the Sentinel system at Malmstrom AFB and its missile field. This initial effort will enhance the lines of communication between the missile field counties, local government entities and the Air Force in support of the [Secretary of Defense] priority to modernize the nuclear triad, ensuring strategic deterrence and rapid global strike capabilities,” according to the grant documents.
Briggs said that the grant stemmed from discussions between the county, Great Falls Development Alliance and Patrick O’Brien, OLDCC director, regarding potential impact to the region from the Sentinel upgrade.
Briggs said it’s expected to be the “first in a series of grants related to mitigating the impacts of the missile system conversion and will allow the region to better understand the project, identify concerns and allow OLDCC to help us develop a strategy to overcome the hurdles and ensure the Sentinel project’s successful implementation in a way that enhances the entire region of the Malmstrom missile field.”
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