A major study commissioned by U.S. Special Operations Command has found that special operations troops experience higher rates of cancer than the rest of the military, providing the clearest evidence yet that an issue long discussed within the SOF community deserves closer examination.
The study, which analyzed health records from more than 231,000 special operations personnel and compared them with more than 5 million non-special operations service members, found that special operators experienced an overall cancer incidence rate 18% higher than their conventional force counterparts.
Researchers also identified significantly higher rates of several specific cancers, including melanoma and testicular cancer. In some cases, special operators were diagnosed years earlier than other service members.
The findings come from SOCOM’s Special Operations Forces Cancer Study, one of the largest examinations of cancer incidence and mortality ever conducted within the special operations community.
While the study found elevated cancer rates, researchers emphasized that it was designed to determine whether a difference existed, not why it existed. According to the full report, additional research is needed to better understand potential occupational, environmental and lifestyle factors that may contribute to the trend.
The findings add new urgency to a question that has circulated among operators, veterans and advocacy groups for years: Are unique aspects of special operations service increasing long-term health risks?
“Twenty-five years in USSOCOM gave me a front-row seat to what this community asks of its people, and what it costs them,” said John Doolittle, a retired Navy SEAL captain who previously helped lead USSOCOM’s Preservation of the Force and Family program and now serves as a senior adviser for human performance and readiness at Leidos. “This study confirms what many of us have long suspected, that a career in Special Operations includes a measurable increase in cancer risk.”
The report arrives as the Department of Veterans Affairs continues a broad effort to better understand military-related health conditions and toxic exposures. Since the implementation of the PACT Act, the VA has screened more than 5 million veterans for toxic exposures, with approximately 43% reporting at least one potential exposure during military service.
What the Study Found
According to the report, special operations personnel experienced a statistically significant increase in overall cancer incidence compared with non-SOF service members.
Among the most notable findings:
- Overall, cancer incidence was 18% higher among special operators.
- Melanoma rates were 33% higher.
- Testicular cancer rates were 21% higher.
- Thyroid cancer rates were elevated.
- Several cancers were diagnosed at younger ages among SOF personnel.
Researchers found that special operators were diagnosed with prostate cancer roughly eight years earlier than members of the conventional force. Other cancers, including lung cancer, also tended to be diagnosed earlier.
The report does not conclude that special operators are more likely to die from cancer.
In fact, researchers found lower overall cancer mortality rates among SOF personnel than among non-SOF service members.
Researchers cautioned that lower mortality rates should not be interpreted as evidence that the problem is less serious. The study cohort remains relatively young, with many operators not yet reaching the age at which environmentally linked cancers typically peak. The report notes that many such cancers can take decades to affect mortality rates, meaning continued surveillance may reveal additional impacts over time.
Several of the cancers identified in the study overlap with conditions already recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs as presumptive illnesses under the PACT Act. However, the SOCOM study did not establish a connection between special operations service and any specific toxic exposure.
While the study provides the strongest data to date on cancer within the special operations community, some advocates believe it may capture only part of the problem.
“This study is groundbreaking,” said Rob Newson, a retired Navy SEAL captain and chief community officer for the Soteria Precision Medicine Foundation, a nonprofit that supports veterans battling cancer. “It moves us from anecdotal indications and warnings to hard data.”
Newson said the report establishes what researchers know today, but may not represent the full burden of cancer among current and former operators.
“It establishes the floor, not the ceiling, of the cancer burden,” he said. “Many of us who work directly with veteran cancer fighters believe the true burden may be substantially higher.”
The study was launched after growing concern within the special operations community regarding cancer diagnoses among current and former operators.
Over the past decade, operators, veterans and advocacy organizations have increasingly questioned whether repeated deployments, demanding training environments and unique occupational exposures could be contributing to increased cancer risk.
Those concerns became more visible through veterans organizations, social media and grassroots efforts to encourage greater research into long-term health outcomes among elite military units.
In response, SOCOM partnered with researchers to conduct a comprehensive review of military and Department of Veterans Affairs health records.
The resulting study represents the largest effort to date to determine whether cancer rates within the special operations force differ from those seen across the broader military.
For years, much of the discussion centered on anecdotes and individual experiences.
The new study provides data showing that a measurable difference exists.
What it does not provide is a definitive explanation.
The Question the Study Could Not Answer
One of the report’s most important conclusions is also one of its most frustrating.
Researchers confirmed higher cancer incidence rates. They did not determine the cause.
The study was not designed to establish a link between cancer and any specific military exposure, occupational specialty or operational activity.
As a result, the report does not attribute the elevated rates to burn pits, explosives, aviation environments, industrial chemicals, weapons systems, training activities or any other potential hazard.
Instead, researchers recommend follow-on studies designed to examine possible contributing factors.
Those efforts could include analysis of occupational exposures, demographic trends, environmental conditions and lifestyle variables.
The report makes clear that additional work is needed before policymakers, military leaders or researchers can draw conclusions about causation.
That distinction is important. While many operators and advocacy groups have raised concerns about potential exposure to burn pits, weapons-range contaminants, blast overpressure and other occupational hazards, the study was not designed to evaluate those theories.
Finding That Hits Close to Home
Among the study’s findings, one stood out for Doolittle: melanoma.
Researchers found melanoma incidence was 33% higher among special operators than among non-SOF service members.
“The 33% increase in melanoma finding hits close to home,” Doolittle said. “I lost a fellow SEAL and close friend, Tom Walsh, to melanoma. Before he died, Tom made sure I started getting checked regularly.”
Doolittle said doctors have since detected melanoma five separate times, with each case caught early enough to be removed before it spread.
“Tom Walsh probably saved my life,” he said. “Get checked.”
The finding mirrors one of the study’s most significant cancer-specific results and may help explain why researchers also found lower cancer mortality rates among special operators despite higher overall cancer incidence. Earlier detection and treatment often improve outcomes.
Rather than treating the report as the end of the conversation, SOCOM has begun taking steps to further examine the issue.
The command recently launched a dedicated cancer study website to share findings, answer questions and provide updates on future research efforts.
SOCOM officials have also said they are working with Defense Health Agency epidemiologists and medical experts to review existing cancer screening protocols and determine whether additional measures may be warranted.
Perhaps most significantly, SOCOM has announced plans for follow-on studies aimed at better understanding why cancer rates appear higher among special operators.
Those efforts are expected to examine potential contributing factors and determine whether changes to prevention, monitoring or screening programs may be needed in the future.
The effort aligns with one of Special Operations Command’s longstanding principles that “Humans are more important than hardware,” a concept that has shaped initiatives such as the Preservation of the Force and Family program and other efforts focused on operator health and readiness. The command’s response suggests the findings could eventually influence health policy and screening practices across the special operations enterprise.
What Happens Next
While the study answers an important question, it leaves many others unresolved.
The report confirms that special operations personnel experience higher overall cancer incidence than the broader military population.
It also shows that certain cancers occur at higher rates and are often diagnosed earlier among special operators.
What remains unknown is why.
Newson said the study should be viewed as the beginning of a much larger effort to understand the long-term health effects of military service.
“In addition to SOF, we need to understand how cancer rates across the broader military compare to the general U.S. population,” he said.
He compared the issue to previous generations of veterans who spent years fighting for recognition of service-related health conditions.
“This is only the beginning of a generational reckoning,” Newson said. “The nation failed Vietnam veterans with Agent Orange and Desert Storm veterans with Gulf War Syndrome. We can do better for this generation of warfighters.”
Doolittle said the work ahead extends beyond identifying elevated cancer rates.
“Cancer hits the whole person, the operator and the family standing next to them,” he said. “The SOCOM study is a solid first step, but finding out why these rates are elevated is where the real work begins. We owe it to the SOF force to get that answer.”
After examining more than 231,000 special operators and comparing them with millions of other service members, researchers reached a clear conclusion: cancer occurs more frequently within the special operations community than in the rest of the military.
The next challenge is determining why.
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