About Us
Our Mission
FROM A SHARED QUESTION TO A NATIONAL MISSION
The Invisible Enemy began with a question.
After reconnecting with fellow veterans who had served at the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), Sergeant Dave Crete began recognizing a troubling pattern of serious illnesses among the men and women who had served there.
What started as conversations among veterans became a mission to uncover answers—and ensure those who served in classified environments are no longer forgotten.
Since 2023, The Invisible Enemy has brought this story into the national spotlight, generating more than 28,400 media mentions across nine countries, 68.4 billion impressions and $52.5 million in equivalent media value.
That awareness helped bring the issue before Congress and contributed to meaningful federal progress. A critical provision addressing toxic-exposure documentation became law through the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Now, the mission is advancing again.
The Sergeant Dave Crete FORGOTTEN Veterans Act of 2026 takes on the next critical challenge: identifying veterans who served at qualifying NTTR locations, verifying classified or incomplete service records, and making that information usable in pursuing VA benefits.
OUR MISSION IS EXPANDING
The Invisible Enemy is building on its original fight for recognition to help create a lasting pathway for veterans whose service has been hidden by secrecy and incomplete records.
Identify the veterans. Verify their service. Document potential exposures. Connect them with the resources and benefits they earned.
What began with one veteran asking why so many of his fellow service members were sick has become a national mission to ensure that no veteran's service and no veteran's sacrifice remains invisible.
About Us
Our Mission
FROM A SHARED QUESTION TO A NATIONAL MISSION
The Invisible Enemy began with a question.
After reconnecting with fellow veterans who had served at the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), Sergeant Dave Crete began recognizing a troubling pattern of serious illnesses among the men and women who had served there.
What started as conversations among veterans became a mission to uncover answers—and ensure those who served in classified environments are no longer forgotten.
Since 2023, The Invisible Enemy has brought this story into the national spotlight, generating more than 28,400 media mentions across nine countries, 68.4 billion impressions and $52.5 million in equivalent media value.
That awareness helped bring the issue before Congress and contributed to meaningful federal progress. A critical provision addressing toxic-exposure documentation became law through the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Now, the mission is advancing again.
The Sergeant Dave Crete FORGOTTEN Veterans Act of 2026 takes on the next critical challenge: identifying veterans who served at qualifying NTTR locations, verifying classified or incomplete service records, and making that information usable in pursuing VA benefits.
OUR MISSION IS EXPANDING
The Invisible Enemy is building on its original fight for recognition to help create a lasting pathway for veterans whose service has been hidden by secrecy and incomplete records.
Identify the veterans. Verify their service. Document potential exposures. Connect them with the resources and benefits they earned.
What began with one veteran asking why so many of his fellow service members were sick has become a national mission to ensure that no veteran's service and no veteran's sacrifice remains invisible.
Our Leadership &
Board of Directors
Our Leadership &
Board of Directors
David Crete
Chairman
SERGEANT DAVID CRETE
U.S. Air Force Veteran | Founder & Chairman, The Invisible Enemy
Sergeant David “Dave” Crete is a United States Air Force veteran, founder and Chairman of The Invisible Enemy, and a national advocate for military personnel whose service at the Nevada Test and Training Range exposed them to hazardous environmental contamination, often without their knowledge.
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Dave joined the U.S. Air Force in 1983 and entered the Security Police Academy with the goal of becoming an Air Force Security Policeman. He quickly distinguished himself as a leader, earning the position of Senior Red Rope the highest-ranking student leadership position in his class with responsibility for 129 fellow trainees.
Upon graduation, Airman First Class Crete was hand-selected for a special assignment with the newly created 4461st Security Police Squadron, providing operational security for the Air Force’s then-top-secret F-117A stealth aircraft program. The aircraft, known only as “the resource,” were based at the Tonopah Test Range (TTR), part of the Nevada Test and Training Range and one of the most highly classified military installations in the country.
Dave and his fellow airmen served within a world built around secrecy. Their mission was to protect a program they could not discuss, at a location that officially did not exist, while working in an environment whose potential hazards they were never fully told about.
After three and a half years protecting the F-117A program at TTR and other undisclosed locations, a severe knee injury resulted in Dave’s transfer to Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. He completed his military commitment there and received an Honorable Discharge in 1989.
Decades later, Dave began connecting his service at the NTTR with a much larger story — one involving veterans who had served at the range, later developed serious illnesses, and struggled to obtain recognition of the environmental exposures they experienced while carrying out classified missions for their country.
In 2023, Dave founded The Invisible Enemy to give those veterans a voice and turn their shared experiences into action.
Today, as Chairman of The Invisible Enemy, Dave leads a growing national effort to educate the public and secure federal recognition, comprehensive medical treatment, and just financial compensation for military personnel. This includes Department of War employees, and DoW contractors exposed to hazardous environmental contamination while working at the NTTR.
His work has helped bring veterans together, build public awareness, engage elected leaders on both sides of the aisle, and elevate an issue that remained largely hidden for decades. The effort has reached Washington, D.C., where federal legislation is advancing to improve the identification and documentation of NTTR toxic exposures and establish a path toward the healthcare and benefits these veterans have long been denied.
Dave’s story and the stories of the men and women who served alongside him are also at the center of A Nobody from Somewhere, a documentary created to bring the human consequences of classified military service and toxic exposure to a national audience.
But for Dave, this mission has never been about one veteran, one military unit, or one generation.
It is about ensuring that no American who becomes sick because of where our country asked them to serve is FORGOTTEN simply because the mission was classified, the danger was unknown, or the records were incomplete.
Through The Invisible Enemy, Dave is working to create a permanent legacy of accountability. One that recognizes those who served at the NTTR, provides care and compensation to those who were harmed, protects future generations of military personnel through better exposure documentation, and ultimately addresses the impact these exposures have had on veterans and their families.
Mark Penikas
Vice Chairman
David Tilem
Executive Director
Catherine Simon
Secretary
William Stieren
Treasurer
Tisha Black
Legal Council
Randy Groves
Board Member
Mike Nemcic
Board Member
Virginia Martino
Board Member
Communications Director
The Invisible Enemy
Thousands of personnel working and living within the NTTR, were exposed to dangerous substances.
Join The Fight
We fight for just compensation, because we deserve better. We fight for those that can no longer do so.
Honor The Fallen
We remember all the fallen in their bravery and commitment to service. We honor the sacrifices they made.