Military Aviator Coalition for Health
THE MISSION CONTINUES . . .
OUR MISSION
MACH is a 501(c)3 nonprofit coalition of veteran aircrew nonprofits, NGOs, legislative champions, and individual stakeholders marshaling the full spectrum of U.S. military flying experience to protect the health of every past and present crew member. Based on the Red Flag model of shared planning and decisive execution, we fuse data, tactics, and advocacy to drive systemic change. By turning cockpit-tested ingenuity into research-backed policy, MACH’s mission is to unlock definitive research, shape legislation, and deliver programs that protect and improve the health of every U.S. military aviator and crew member.
OUR PRIORITIES
POLICY
Our flagship objective for the 119th Congress is passage of the bipartisan Aviator Cancer Examination Study (ACES) Act commissioning an independent National Academies study and paving the way for stronger screening and treatment protocols for every military aircrew member.
PARTNERS
Our partners give MACH both credibility and capacity: credibility through subject-matter authority and real-world stories, and capacity through a nationwide grassroots network that keeps pressure on Congress until aircrew health reforms are law.
RESEARCH
MACH advocates for rigorous, independent research to uncover the full scope of cancer risks among military aviators. We support expanding access to DoD and VA health data, and funding longitudinal studies on occupational exposures to mitigate future risk.
HAPPENING NOW
www.nationalacademies.org/projects/HMD-BPH-25-04/event/47225
YOUR OPPORUTUNITY TO LEARN AND BE HEARD - 27 Oct 0830-1630 EDT
Register at the link below and this will also be webcast.
The National Academies study committee is examining cancer prevalence and mortality among individuals who served on active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps as an aircrew member of a fixed-wing aircraft. The event is open to the public and includes presentations from experts related to the occupational exposures of military aircrew. Public attendees will have an opportunity to address the committee.
The study will examine the types of exposures experienced by fixed-wing aircraft aircrew and review scientific evidence on whether those exposures may be linked to cancer. The study committee will also assess available data on cancer rates, illness, and deaths among veterans who began serving in 1990 or later. A final report will summarize findings, identify research gaps, and recommend next steps for future studies.
Additional meetings will be held in San Diego December 7 - 9, 2026, and at an additional military base in early February. Further details forthcoming.
Aviator Cancer Examination Study (ACES) Dayton Open Session
www.nationalacademies.org
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is currently conducting a consensus study on possible increased cancer risks related to military veteran aviators service. The study will ...
PROMETHEUS represents something military and veteran health research has needed for a long time: an effort to connect exposure history, biological material, health outcomes, and advanced research capabilities.
But connecting data is not the final objective.
Publishing another study is not the final objective.
The objective must be to improve the lives of service members, veterans, and their families.
For MACH, that means research should ultimately help answer practical questions:
What exposures occurred?
Which populations face elevated risk?
Which cancers warrant tailored attention?
When should screening begin?
Which technologies can detect disease earlier?
What exposures can be reduced or eliminated?
How should military and VA providers care differently for exposed populations?
The aviation-focused PROMETHEUS concept includes exposure-informed prevention, early detection, risk-stratified screening, mitigation recommendations, and precision-treatment insights among its possible translational outcomes.
MACH recognizes that high-quality science takes time. We also recognize that today’s aircrew, maintainers, veterans, survivors, and families cannot wait indefinitely for institutions to connect what is already known.
We will continue:
Engaging researchers
Tracking military and veteran health studies
Identifying information gaps
Advocating for transparency
Supporting exposure-informed screening and care
Working toward an Improved Outcome Strategy
The movement from incidence, to causation, to mitigation and improved outcomes will take sustained effort.
MACH intends to remain at the table.
Learn more about MACH:
milaviator.org
Learn more about PROMETHEUS:
medschool.usuhs.edu/sur/research/murtha-cancer-center/research
#MACHCoalition #PROMETHEUS #ImprovedOutcomes #MilitaryHealth #VeteranHealth #AviatorHealth #CancerResearch #EarlyDetection #OccupationalHealth #StrongerTogether
Much of military cancer research has necessarily looked backward.
Researchers identify diagnoses and deaths, compare populations, study historical records, and attempt to reconstruct exposures that may have occurred years earlier. That retrospective work remains essential.
But MACH detected another direction at the PROMETHEUS retreat:
𝐀 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬.
PROMETHEUS-related research may use archived serum collected before diagnosis, prospective blood samples, pathology, exposure histories, molecular analysis, imaging, and integrated health data. The attached aviation-focused overview specifically identifies the development of pre-diagnostic classifiers, risk-stratified screening proposals, exposure-mitigation recommendations, and possible precision-treatment biomarkers as potential research outputs.
MACH heard significant interest in:
Expanding what researchers can learn from serum and dried-blood samples
Identifying biological changes that may precede a diagnosis
Improving tumor detection and characterization
Integrating historical data with emerging analytical and machine-learning tools
Developing screening strategies based on documented occupational risk
These are emerging research directions—not completed clinical solutions.
MACH is not claiming that a predictive model currently exists that can determine which military aviators will develop cancer. Nor are we suggesting that every promising research method will produce an operational screening tool. But the direction matters.
The endstate should not be another report documenting, years later, what happened to a military population. It should be earlier recognition of risk, earlier detection of disease, better-informed care, and improved outcomes.
𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
milaviator.org
#Prometheus #machcoalition #CancerResearch
IN THE NEWS
- Military Aviator Cancers: The Hinge Point | JAN 2026
- Report Will Target Cancer Rates in Aircrews, But Toxic-Exposure Work Is Far From Finished | SEP 2026
- Aviator cancer study law is a win, but there's still more to do for toxic-exposed veterans. | SEP 2026
- ACES Act Becomes Law: A Milestone for Military Aviators’ Health | AUG 2025
- SIGNED INTO LAW: The ACES Act | AUG 2025
- Rep. Pfluger's ACES Act Passes Through the House | MAY 2025
- Cancer rates in military pilots and other aviators could get a closer look | JAN 2025
- Panetta, Pfluger Seek to Lower Military Aviation Cancer Rates | JAN 2025
- Military Aviator Cancers: The Aces Act | MAY 2024
- Military Aviator Cancers: The 2023 DOD Study | APR 2024
- Military Aviator Cancer: The USAF Pathfinder Study Changes The Discussion | MAR 2024
- Military Aviator Cancers: The Campaign Roots | MAR 2024
- Military Aviator Cancers: How Did We Get Here?| MAR 2024
- New Paper on Military: Soldiers Exposed to Radar and Full Body RF Have Higher Cancers | OCT 2022
IN THE MEDIA
FLIGHT PLANS
ACES ACT
- ZIntroduce H.R. 530 - The ACES Act
- Z Pass House Subcomittees
- ZPASS THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
- ZPASS THE SENATE
- ZFINALIZE BILL IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
- ZACES ACT SIGNED INTO LAW
- ZACES Act cancer study CONTRACT SIGNED BY NASEM & THE VA
ROTOR ACT
- ZIntroduce H.R. 4704 – The ROTOR Act
- VAdvocate for H.R. 4704 in the Senate
- VPass the House of Representatives
- VPass the Senate
- VFinalize Bill in House of Representatives
- VROTOR ACT SIGNED INTO LAW