118th Congress ACES Act Engagement Plan March through May 2024
Congressman August Pluger has introduced a bill that directs the VA to study the correlation between Cancer and aviation service
- The ACES Act directs the Secretary of the VA to work with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study the prevalence and mortality of cancer among individuals who served as active-duty aircrew in the Armed Forces.
- The study will be submitted to the Secretary of the VA, the Secretaries of Defense, the Navy, the Air Force, and both Senate and House VA Committees.
- By better understanding the correlation between aviator service and cancer, we can assist our military and provide more adequate care for our veterans.
How We Got Here
Military aviators particularly those in the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps fighter/attack aircraft communities see and endure significant elevated cancer diagnosis & death rate(s) Veteran flyer cancers typically appear years after he/she left military aviation. This fits a clinical pattern known as the “cancer latency window”; here, Veterans exposed in service manifest their cancer 5-15 years after they left military service
First USAF Aviator Cancer Study
In May 2021 the Air Force released its first ever study on the incidence of cancer among certain Veteran aircrews. The AF study found: Veteran flyers who left the Air Force had rates of cancer incidence that significantly exceeded the same cancer rates found in the U.S. general population o The AF found higher rates of melanoma, prostate, testicular, non-Hodgkin lymphoma
First DOD-Wide Flyer Cancer Study
March 2023 Department of Defense released its first ever Veteran aviator cancer incidence study among flyers (all ranks, all seats, all fixed wing aircraft fleets) of the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Army. The DOD study found: o As in AF Veteran flyer cancer study, DOD’s study found significantly elevated rates of prostate, melanoma, thyroid cancers + 24% more cancers at all body site
Engagement
Engagement Talking points with your Representatives/Senators with Sample Email
If you would like to use a more complete email or letter to your federal lawmakers, you may use the content below:
Recent large-scale studies by the Air Force in 2021 and Department of Defense in 2023 confirm that Veteran aviators get diagnosed with cancer and die from it at rates significantly higher than the U.S. general population. The causes of those cancers are not known to science. We ask your support for H.R. 4886, Aviator Cancer Examination Study (ACES) Act. The ACES Act would appropriate funding to the Veterans Administration in its 2025 fiscal year authorization to award a contract to the National Academy of Medicine to study the causes of cancers among Veteran flyers. The Academy reviewed the matter of Veteran aviator cancers and estimated that approximately $100 million would be needed to conduct s multi-year study. It is worth mentioning that while the PACT Act is oriented on burnpit and ground exposures, the PACT Act does not include any mention or study of airborne exposures, the domain of Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Army aviators. Elsewhere, ongoing DOD studies are for active-duty cancer mitigation. We need a study that specifically focuses on Veteran health that provides VA with the data it needs to provide earlier diagnostic care that saves more Veteran flyers and improves their cancer treatment.
Talking Points
- Recent large-scale studies confirm that Veteran aviators get cancer and die from it at rates significantly higher than the U.S. general population. The causes of those cancers are not known to science. We need your support for the ACES Act, a proposed multi-year study to be conducted by the National Academy of Medicine. The Academy would use its decades of experience to identify what in the military aviation operating environments is causing cancer among Veteran flyers.
- The ACES Act would appropriate funding to the Veterans Administration in the 2025 fiscal year to award a contract to the National Academy of Medicine to study the causes of Veteran cancers. The Academy reviewed the matter and estimated that approximately $100 million would be needed to conduct s multi-year study on a scale that would look at 200,000+ Veteran aviators. While that is a significant sum of taxpayer money, we feel it passes the test of keeping faith with America’s Veterans.
- The ACES Act is a proposed cancer association study that would use the study methods previously developed at the National Academy of Medicine to identify what causes Veteran flyers in all services, all aircraft, all ranks, and all seat positions to become sick with cancer. Since 2021 there have been two landmark studies on Veteran aviator cancers. Instead of another cancer study, Veterans need a large-scale, reputable study that tells us what is making us sick.
- While I support the PACT Act’s implementation, the ACES Act is very different and not mentioned by the PACT Act. Specifically, the PACT Act assumes that sick Veterans were exposed to burnpits fumes and other toxic things on the ground. The PACT Act has no understanding of likely Veteran aviator exposures in the air. We need your support to move. For questions, please email us at: medical@river-rats.org forward with the ACES Act and a study to discover what new things are likely making our Veteran flyers sick.
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