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5/26/2025
Missile upgrades still in the planning phase
Air Force officials at a town hall in Great Falls earlier this month assured attendees that the Sentinel missile program remains underway, despite news of delays. The upgrades include the construction of 450 launch facilities, 24 centralized launch centers and 5,000 miles of new fiber optic cables linking the infrastructure.
Beyond that, there’s still little information about the local impacts and how the project will be carried out. For example, here’s how an official responded to a question about the expected number of construction workers:
“I can’t tell you specifically, because like I said, we’re doing a re-plan right now,” said Katie Parks, a procurement official for the Air Force. “We have to figure out a couple things first.”
About where those workers will be located:
“I can’t at this point say specifically where these folks are going to be centered out of,” Parks said.
About worker housing being temporary or permanent:
“Whether how that gets built and everything again, that’s part of what we’re looking at right now, what makes sense and whether we leave it behind or not,” Parks said.
Sentinel is a massive project to replace the current Minuteman III model nuclear missiles, 400 of which sit in silos controlled by three missile wings at Malmstrom Air Force Base, F.E. Warren Air Force Base near Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. Officials have underscored the logistical complexity of the project, not only in construction but also in keeping the current missiles on alert while slowly swapping them out for new ones.
The project is viewed as a step to solidify Malmstrom’s mission and maintain the base’s economic impact on the region. But Sentinel has faced delays and revisions.
Sentinel underwent a U.S. Department of Defense review last year that resulted in an 81% cost increase and brought the price tag to $140.9 billion, which the department approved. There have been other changes, including a recent pivot toward plans to construct new missile silos rather than reuse the existing ones, which was the original plan. Officials told the Great Falls crowd on May 15 that the costs to renovate would be too great.
“It’s more actually cost-effective to just drill new silos on the land that we already have there,” said Maj. Gen. Colin Connor, director of intercontinental ballistic missile modernization based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
That has the potential to add complexity to the land use portion of Sentinel. An environmental impact assessment completed in 2023 outlined project plans that include more than 1,200 miles of “new utility corridors” and easement transactions with 1,288 landowners.
The same report called for two regional workforce hubs, each with up to 3,000 workers. But now, given the project updates, those estimates are less certain. Lewistown residents expected to host one of those workforce hubs, but following a town hall event, the Lewistown News-Argus reported that this may no longer be the case.
“There was an environmental impact study that’s been done, but that was based on the original plan before we restructured the program,” Connor said during the Great Falls event.
Connor made that comment in response to Great Falls City Commissioner Shannon Wilson, who asked what kinds of reimbursement might be available to local governments and other entities that deal with the influx of temporary workers. The environmental assessment addressed the expected impact using federal crime statistics.
“Although there would be only a 2% to 3% increase in population, individuals in the expected demographic of the proposed construction workers commit crimes between 1.7 and 2.1 times more often than the general public,” the assessment said.
Connor responded that the Air Force would “point them in the right direction” toward potential grant opportunities.
Lt. Col. John Mayer, director of the ICBM detachment at Malmstrom, did provide specific dates for various construction on base to support the Sentinel transition. The building closest to completion is the site activation task force building, which is expected to be completed this year, as well as a large commercial gate. A maintenance facility, training center and utility upgrades have dates for completion in 2027. The following year should see the completion of a wing command center and a missile handling complex, according to Mayer. Infrastructure at Malmstrom is key to supporting work across rural Montana.
Representatives of several trade unions commented during the town hall about their anticipation for the Sentinel project and the willingness of area workers to participate. Parks said that the Air Force will look to hire locally when possible, but the expected need may be greater than the local workforce can supply.
Officials told the crowd inside the West Elementary School auditorium that the Minuteman III missile system is still effective, but it’s aging. The first Minuteman model went into service in 1962. Design and test work on the new missile, led by Northrop Grumman, is ongoing.
“Minuteman III has been the foundation,” Connor said. “Sentinel will continue to be the foundation for the next 70 years.”
Photo op
Students involved in the construction of the 47th High School House cut the ribbon during a ceremony on May 22. A year in the making, this house completed a block with seven student-built homes on the 1300 block of Third Avenue South.
The program has been a part of Great Falls Public Schools since 1997, and today NeighborWorks Great Falls is a major partner. The effort includes donations from a variety of local suppliers, trade groups and other donors, and the students provide the labor. As part of the ceremony, school faculty handed out scholarships to the top student builders and designers.
Gabe Wilberding and Koolen Schmidt were named builders of the year, and Isabella Tempel and Eleanor Eubanks were named designers of the year.
Calling all photographers: Submit a photo for Great Falls This Week to [email protected].
Concerning ethics
The Great Falls City Commission last week voted to dissolve an ethics committee established in 2017. The three-member committee has handled three ethics cases in the years since, and city staff identified ethical concerns within the ethics accountability process itself.
For example, the city manager and attorney were put in positions to assess the validity of ethics complaints made against their staff or commission members. This created “unnecessary tension,” according to a city memo, and led to outside legal costs of $3,600 to $4,600 per case.
With the dissolution of the ethics committee, those kinds of complaints will go straight to the Cascade County attorney, which was the protocol before the committee’s creation. County Attorney Josh Racki told Montana Free Press that his office also handles ethics complaints from other towns in the county, as well as special jurisdictions like the Fort Shaw Irrigation District.
Racki said that state law provides the framework to handle ethics complaints. The county attorney’s office would take statements from the complainant and the party accused of a violation. If the office determines that a serious ethical issue occurred, the case can go to the district court for a civil fine of up to $1,000.
“I would make a finding and I would say based on my review of the issue, it appears that these ethics were violated,” Racki said.
If the county attorney declines to bring the complaint to court, the complaining party can.
The law also says that the “employing entity,” such as the city of Great Falls, can take disciplinary action in these cases. Racki said that in some cases, it can be enough to bring the findings to that employer or organization to complete the process rather than go to court.
Ethics cases like these are rare, Racki said. The city’s code of ethics can be found here.
At the May 20 commission meeting, former Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan opposed the dissolution of the ethics committee. He commended Great Falls and Bozeman for taking the steps to form their own accountability structures.
As commissioner of political practices, Mangan adjudicated ethics and political law issues from across the state. He said that bringing complaints to the county attorney can be difficult for people who aren’t used to the legal system. He said hypothetically that a busy county attorney’s office might not have the resources to look closely at ethics complaints, “so often it just goes nowhere.”
“I would encourage you strongly to take maybe a closer look at what those potential structural issues are within the city,” Mangan said.
Mayor Cory Reeves said that he supported dissolving the ethics committee and that the system “put the city manager in a bad position.” Commission Rick Tryon said that the committee became “a vehicle for citizens to launch political vendettas and personal vendettas.”
The commission voted 3-1 to dissolve the committee, with Commissioner Shannon Wilson voting against. Commissioner Susan Wolff was absent.
5 things to know in Great Falls
The city is continuing to take inventory of lead water pipes ahead of an EPA mandate to replace them. There are still around 4,000 service lines made of unknown materials, and city staff is working with property owners to identify them. Plans are underway for a pilot loan program through the state that could help fund replacements, though just a small number of people will participate in the loan. Firm plans to fund line replacements are still unknown. City staff and commissioners expressed concern about the city enforcing the lead line replacement mandate for water lines on private property at the property owners’ expense. A 10-year replacement window begins in 2027.
Benefits Health System saw record fundraising during its recent Mayfaire event. The $1.4 million raised will help establish the Goodnow Healthy Aging Center, which will serve Montana’s older residents. Benefis broke ground on the 15,000-square-foot facility on May 1. It’s expected to open next year.
A “citizen town hall” is scheduled for May 28 and will feature state Sens. Wendy McKamey and Jeremy Trebas, as well as state Rep. Jane Weber. As of May 21, the organizers were still reaching out to elected officials to add to the roster. Hosted by Citizens 4 Government Transparency, the town hall is from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Family Living Center at the ExpoPark.
A new election law changed some dates for candidate filing in this year’s municipal elections. The new municipal primary filing date is May 27, with a closing date of June 11. Anyone who has already filed will remain active, according to Cascade County Elections Administrator Terry Thompson.
Great Falls Planning and Community Development Director Brock Cherry shared a summary of community priorities during a work session on May 20. The summary came out of surveys, workshops, neighborhood meetings and other engagement activities as part of the development of a new growth policy. From those meetings, the top concern from the public was housing affordability and availability, Cherry said. Three-quarters of participating community members mentioned this as a top priority over the next 20 years. That was followed by the cost of living, public safety, public infrastructure and downtown revitalization. The growth policy development website is here.
Public notice
The city of Great Falls will host workforce housing program discussions involving the use of the downtown tax increment financing district. Workforce housing targets buyers earning 60% to 140% of the area median income. While the state Legislature has approved the use of TIF funds for this kind of housing, it would require action at the city level to do so locally. Read more about proposed local housing policies here.
The upcoming meetings are aimed at providing information about a potential program and getting community feedback. The discussions are scheduled for May 28 at noon and May 29 at 5:30 p.m., both in the city commission chambers at the Civic Center.
