Rick Sherlock has spent his life in service to others. The retired army major general has flown Chinooks, Blackhawks, and other aircraft. He has served his country at home and abroad, including tours of duty in South Korea, Iraq, and Germany, as well as several tours of duty at the Pentagon. After retiring from the military, Sherlock spent eight years as president and CEO of the Association of Air Medical Services. He also served as president and CEO of the Medevac Foundation, a charitable foundation that provides grants to families, funds research to advance trauma medicine, and provides support for the air medical industry.  

Given Sherlock’s extensive military and philanthropic background, it’s no surprise that he is currently serving the lung cancer community as a GO2 for Lung Cancer board member. 

“What drew me to GO2 is that the organization has very robust programs to reach out to people with lung cancer after they get hit with that initial diagnosis,” said Sherlock. “GO2 helps them understand what they’re hearing and helps them navigate the system.” And, especially meaningful to him is GO2’s collaboration with the Veterans Administration since Veterans are at increased risk of developing lung cancer.   

Lung cancer and Veterans 

According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), one-to-two million Veterans are at elevated risk of developing lung cancer, and approximately 7,700 Veterans who use Veterans Health Administration (VHA) services are diagnosed with lung cancer each year.  

Sherlock noted that times have certainly changed from when the army used to include cigarettes in soldiers’ rations—and so has our understanding of the lung cancer risks facing Veterans. “You’re exposed to so many different things in the military that can cause a danger that people are unaware of. There was Agent Orange, oil wildfires in the first Gulf War, and different types of burn pits,” said Sherlock. And it’s not just ground troops who are at risk, he stressed. “It’s also the chemicals that are aboard ships. It is the chemicals that reach up into the air from fires and burning structures and things of that nature that you get exposed to that you’re completely unaware of in the environment because you’re focused on what it is that you need to do in the present.” 

Sherlock estimates that the risk of exposure to something that can cause lung cancer is 30–40% greater for military personnel than for the general public. That is why he’s so proud of GO2’s partnership with the VA. 

GO2’s commitment to Veterans  

In 2020, GO2 and the VA established a partnership to enhance lung cancer awareness and early detection access for Veterans at-risk. Because the disease is most treatable when caught early, the partnership makes an additional 800 GO2 Centers of Excellence (COE) lung cancer screening centers available to Veterans. GO2’s COE network is comprised of “best-in-class” local and community treatment centers which will help reach more Veterans—particularly in rural and underserved communities. 

A future goal  

Sherlock would love to see a similar relationship develop between GO2 and the Department of Defense (DOD). “DOD focuses on what it needs to focus on, and over the last two decades, that’s been trauma medicine and rehabilitation,” said Sherlock. “GO2 could be a very valuable resource in educating it about how the active-duty population that is deployed multiple times over the last 20+ years is at risk for lung cancer. There’s a role for GO2 to play in providing information and developing programs that focus on the active-duty population too.”