'We are dropping like flies.' Ex-fighter pilots push for earlier cancer screenings

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-...i15?li=BBnb7Kz

WASHINGTON — Former Air Force and Navy fighter pilots are calling on the
military to begin cancer screenings for aviators as young as 30 because of an
increase in deaths from the disease that they suspect may be tied to radiation
emitted in the cockpit.

“We are dropping like flies in our 50s from aggressive cancers,” said retired
Air Force Col. Eric Nelson, a former F-15E Strike Eagle weapons officer. He
cited prostate and esophageal cancers, lymphoma, and glioblastomas that have
struck fellow pilots he knew, commanded or flew with.

Nelson’s prostate cancer was first detected at age 48, just three months after
he retired from the Air Force. In his career he has more than 2,600 flying
hours, including commanding the 455th Air Expeditionary Group in Bagram,
Afghanistan, and as commander of six squadrons of F-15E fighter jets at the 4th
Operations Group at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.

Last month McClatchy reported on a new Air Force study that reviewed the risk
for prostate cancers among its fighter pilots and new Veterans Health
Administration data showing that the rate of reported cases of prostate cancers
per year among veterans using the VA health care system across all services has
risen almost 16% since fiscal year 2000.

The Air Force study also looked at cockpit exposure, finding that “pilots have
greater environmental exposure to ultraviolet and ionizing radiation … (fighter
pilots) have unique intra-cockpit exposures to non-ionizing radiation.”

Retired Navy Cmdr. Mike Crosby served as a radar intercept officer in F-14
fighter jets from 1984 to 1997, accumulating over 2,000 flight hours. He started
Veterans Prostate Cancer Awareness Inc. in 2016 after his own prostate cancer
diagnosis at age 55.

“I think there’s been a lot of avoidance in addressing this issue,” he said.
Crosby and other pilots who contacted McClatchy said they suspect the cancers in
their community may be linked to prolonged exposure in the cockpit to radiation
from the radar systems on their advanced jets, or other sources such as from
cockpit oxygen generation systems.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that exposure to
some types of radiation can cause cancer, however to date there has been no link
established between the specific radiation emitted from radars on these advanced
jets and the illnesses pilots are now seeing.

Navy and Air Force pilots told McClatchy about their battles with cancer, their
frustrations about what they saw as the limitations of the Air Force study, and
about former pilots who have died from cancer.

“When you’re 30 years old you need to start screening for prostate cancer, even
if it comes out of your own pocket,” Nelson said. “You need to see a urologist
once a year. Not your primary care physician, not your flight doc. Pay the money
and stick around for your great-grandkids.”

If the military would begin screening for cancer earlier, “that would save
lives,” Nelson said. The military’s health care system, TRICARE, currently
covers prostate cancer screenings at age 50 for service members with no family
history of the disease, and as young as age 40 if there is a family history of
the disease in two or more family members. The pilots who spoke with McClatchy
said they did not have a family history of prostate cancer when they were
diagnosed.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Thomas Hill was a career F-4 and F-14 pilot and squadron
commanding officer with more than 3,600 flight hours and more than 960 aircraft
carrier landings. Hill was 52 when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In
December 2011, at age 60, he learned he also had esophageal cancer.

Hill has spent the last two years tracking premature deaths or cancers among
former commanding officers of F-14 squadrons. So far he’s found more than a
dozen who have either been diagnosed or have died from the disease.

“God, they’re all my friends,” he said.


more at
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-...i15?li=BBnb7Kz



*

"Miloch" wrote in message ...

more at
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-...i15?li=BBnb7Kz

That's what you get for flying at high altitudes
for long periods (cosmic ray exposure)...

Miloch wrote in
:

more at
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-...es-ex-fighter-
pilots-push-for-earlier-cancer-screenings/ar-AAFYi15?li=BBnb7Kz

WASHINGTON — Former Air Force and Navy fighter pilots are calling on
the military to begin cancer screenings for aviators as young as 30
because of an increase in deaths from the disease that they suspect
may be tied to radiation emitted in the cockpit.

“We are dropping like flies in our 50s from aggressive cancers,” said
retired Air Force Col. Eric Nelson, a former F-15E Strike Eagle
weapons officer. He cited prostate and esophageal cancers, lymphoma,
and glioblastomas that have struck fellow pilots he knew, commanded or
flew with.

Nelson’s prostate cancer was first detected at age 48, just three
months after he retired from the Air Force. In his career he has more
than 2,600 flying hours, including commanding the 455th Air
Expeditionary Group in Bagram, Afghanistan, and as commander of six
squadrons of F-15E fighter jets at the 4th Operations Group at Seymour
Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.

Last month McClatchy reported on a new Air Force study that reviewed
the risk for prostate cancers among its fighter pilots and new
Veterans Health Administration data showing that the rate of reported
cases of prostate cancers per year among veterans using the VA health
care system across all services has risen almost 16% since fiscal year
2000.

The Air Force study also looked at cockpit exposure, finding that
“pilots have greater environmental exposure to ultraviolet and
ionizing radiation … (fighter pilots) have unique intra-cockpit
exposures to non-ionizing radiation.”

Retired Navy Cmdr. Mike Crosby served as a radar intercept officer in
F-14 fighter jets from 1984 to 1997, accumulating over 2,000 flight
hours. He started Veterans Prostate Cancer Awareness Inc. in 2016
after his own prostate cancer diagnosis at age 55.

“I think there’s been a lot of avoidance in addressing this issue,” he
said. Crosby and other pilots who contacted McClatchy said they
suspect the cancers in their community may be linked to prolonged
exposure in the cockpit to radiation from the radar systems on their
advanced jets, or other sources such as from cockpit oxygen generation
systems.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that
exposure to some types of radiation can cause cancer, however to date
there has been no link established between the specific radiation
emitted from radars on these advanced jets and the illnesses pilots
are now seeing.

Navy and Air Force pilots told McClatchy about their battles with
cancer, their frustrations about what they saw as the limitations of
the Air Force study, and about former pilots who have died from
cancer.

“When you’re 30 years old you need to start screening for prostate
cancer, even if it comes out of your own pocket,” Nelson said. “You
need to see a urologist once a year. Not your primary care physician,
not your flight doc. Pay the money and stick around for your
great-grandkids.”

If the military would begin screening for cancer earlier, “that would
save lives,” Nelson said. The military’s health care system, TRICARE,
currently covers prostate cancer screenings at age 50 for service
members with no family history of the disease, and as young as age 40
if there is a family history of the disease in two or more family
members. The pilots who spoke with McClatchy said they did not have a
family history of prostate cancer when they were diagnosed.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Thomas Hill was a career F-4 and F-14 pilot and
squadron commanding officer with more than 3,600 flight hours and more
than 960 aircraft carrier landings. Hill was 52 when he was diagnosed
with a brain tumor. In December 2011, at age 60, he learned he also
had esophageal cancer.

Hill has spent the last two years tracking premature deaths or cancers
among former commanding officers of F-14 squadrons. So far he’s found
more than a dozen who have either been diagnosed or have died from the
disease.

“God, they’re all my friends,” he said.


more at
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-...es-ex-fighter-
pilots-push-for-earlier-cancer-screenings/ar-AAFYi15?li=BBnb7Kz



*



"They enlisted, didn't they?"
Dick Cheney, brushing off military
deaths in the wars that he pushed
Bush into starting, 2008.