MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- Less than 500 feet from the weapons storage area, a location where reentry systems and reentry vehicles for intercontinental ballistic missiles are stored, airmen are posted to ensure that constant communication between security forces and maintenance workers is flawlessly executed.
Air Force Senior Airman Jasmine Helm-Lucas, a munitions controller with the 341st Munitions Squadron here, acts as a gatekeeper for granting maintenance airmen access to the weapons storage area where they will perform maintenance on missile reentry systems and vehicles.
Tight security is in place here due to the nature of the nuclear deterrence mission, and every movement and piece of maintenance conducted on reentry systems and vehicles is logged on a spreadsheet for accountability.
Helm-Lucas said there is little going on at the weapons storage area that her team is unaware of.
‘We are the Nerve Center’
“The best way to describe it is we are the nerve center for the WSA,” said Helm-Lucas, who hails from Georgia.
Helm-Lucas also controls access to conventional weapons in the storage area by going through ammunition inventory with security forces members.
“We also have an emergency access checklist in place in the event of unforeseen circumstances,” Helm-Lucas said.
In the event an error has occurred, Helm-Lucas and her team are responsible for implementing safety checklists such as evacuation, securing a nuclear weapon and disseminating information throughout the chain of command.
Helm-Lucas has been in the maintenance career field for more than three years, but she’s been a munitions controller for eight months. Before joining the Air Force, Helm-Lucas received her bachelor’s degree in computer information systems and joined the Air Force to travel and put her degree to use.
“My life goals and Air Force goals are not different,” Helm-Lucas said. “I always try to be the best I can be and give 100 percent of myself in everything I do.”
She said her positive mindset and the people she works with keep her going.
Larry Wilson, a squadron personnel reliability program monitor and unit security manager, said he works with Helm-Lucas on a daily basis. Wilson said he enjoys working with her.
“[Helm-Lucas] is instrumental in putting a smile on my face,” Wilson said. “I’m not sure if the Air Force will be successful in keeping her for another enlistment, but we can always hope."
Helm-Lucas said she doesn’t know yet if she wants to reenlist or leave the Air Force. However, she said she does have an interest in becoming a commissioned Air Force officer.
Helm-Lucas said she hopes to make staff sergeant soon, and would like to eventually pursue a career in cybersecurity after the Air Force.
“Until I decide what I’m going to do,” she said, “I look forward to becoming a team chief and traveling around the country.”
Air Force Senior Airman Jasmine Helm-Lucas, a munitions controller with the 341st Munitions Squadron, poses for a photo at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., June 19, 2017. Helm-Lucas acts as a gatekeeper for granting maintenance airmen access to the weapons storage area where they will perform maintenance on intercontinental ballistic missiles’ reentry systems and vehicles. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Daniel Brosam