Malmstrom commander outlines Sentinel upgrade, economic and family impacts for Great Falls

Colonel Daniel John Voorhees, wing commander of the 340th (Missile) Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, told the Montana Legislature’s joint Business and Labor and Economic Affairs Committee that the Minuteman-to-Sentinel modernization will refurbish 450 missile silos and is being led by a private prime contractor.

“Currently, Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for that contract,” Voorhees said, describing the Sentinel effort as a multidecade, Defense Department–funded overhaul of Cold War–era infrastructure.

The modernization is addressing infrastructure that Voorhees said dates to the original deployment of missiles at Malmstrom. He noted the base has “put missiles on alert continuously” since Oct. 27, 1962, and described the effort as an update from analog systems to an IP‑based, digital architecture.

Why it matters: Voorhees told legislators the program has both national security and local consequences. He described the base as an economic anchor in central Montana and highlighted the community effects of construction, staffing…