GREAT FALLS — In the video above, Aneesa Coomer reports on a public forum at CMR High School in Great Falls, where Air Force officials discussed the Sentinel program, a long-term project that will upgrade the missiles assigned to Malmstrom Air Force Base.
The Air Force hosted town hall meetings in Lewistown and Great Falls this week to discuss a major missile modernization project and the impact it will have on Montana communities. The Sentinel project will include modernization of launch facilities, control centers, and other ground infrastructure across the 13,800 square mile missile complex of Malmstrom Air Force Base.
The project includes the renovation of existing missile launch facilities, the construction of two dozen new missile alert facilities, and 62 new communication towers within the missile fields overseen by Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, and F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.
The 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom is responsible for 150 launch facilities – the unmanned silos where missiles are located; and 15 missile alert facilities – where military personnel monitor and operate the system. They’re spread across a 13,800-square-mile missile field that covers parts of eight counties: Cascade, Chouteau, Fergus, Judith Basin, Lewis & Clark, Meagher, Teton, and Wheatland.
On Wednesday at CMR High School, Malmstrom Air Force Base and other Air Force leaders and stakeholders talked about the impacts of the Sentinel program.
Sentinel is a modernization of the existing Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic systems. FE Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming will be first on the renovation list.
Malmstrom’s tentative timeline goes from 2025 to 2033. Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota will be updated following Malmstrom.
The program will also create 50-to-60-acre parcels known as “workforce hubs” in Lewistown and Great Falls. The hubs will be big enough to house an estimated 3,000 employees.
