Pentagon Orders U.S. Military Bases to Prepare for Power Outages & Supply Chain Disruptions

By Patrick Humphrey, disaster and emergency-news reporter on YouTube (143K subscribers) and founder of ReadyAtlas.

The Pentagon has just ordered every major U.S. military base inside the United States to get prepared for massive power outages and to be able to run for at least 90 days through supply chain disruptions or grid-down events. It's part of a new plan called the FORTRESS initiative, and the scary part is that this is about bases here at home, not overseas.

▶ Watch the full breaking news video on YouTube

What the Pentagon's FORTRESS Initiative Orders

Reports are calling it the Pentagon's doomsday plan to keep America fighting if a global war erupts. The FORTRESS initiative envisions portable nuclear reactors, microgrids, and strategic reserves of munitions and fuel.

The Pentagon is prepping U.S. military bases to keep operating for at least 90 days without outside support as it prepares for the possibility of a major war that could take down power grids, disrupt supply chains and threaten critical infrastructure on American soil. It's part of a broader military initiative aimed at making sure American forces can keep fighting even if the civilian systems they depend on are disrupted.

Under FORTRESS, every major military installation in the continental U.S. would be expected to sustain essential operations independently for at least 90 days, including access to:

• Electricity
• Water
• Fuel
• Communications

The document was signed on September 30 by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. It says FORTRESS America strengthens the nation's military capacity from the inside out, and it's organized around five pillars:

1. Energy independence
2. Supply chain and defense industrial base resilience
3. A strategic defense reserve
4. Installation hardening and cyber resilience
5. Resilience in space and spectrum

Why Would They Prepare for the Grid Going Down for 90 Days?

They are signaling that they're getting U.S. bases ready because there could be some type of major cyber attack or major attack on the grid here at home. Why would they be worried about the grid going down for 90 days if it's not a real threat?

Right now these bases share civilian infrastructure. If you live near a military base, the power plant powering your home is most likely powering that base as well. So they're talking about getting their own mini nuclear reactors and hardening their defenses. Essentially, they want to be able to cut these bases off from the rest of the world and still operate through any type of event.

Normally we hear about military bases getting hit or under attack overseas. This time they're worried about domestic attacks, it seems.

"We don't want to rely on standard civilian municipal infrastructure to run our national defense. We just simply can't. It's an intolerable risk."

"Power is combat now. Without electricity, you lose communications, water, logistics, assembly lines, and just basic command structures."

The Pentagon is also laying the groundwork for civilian factories to shift to defense production during a crisis, while preparing alternative supply chains and strategic reserves to keep weapons, fuel and other essential materials flowing.

Mini Nuclear Reactors by 2028, and a Decades-Long Plan

We don't know when something could happen. It could be 10 years from now. They're saying this is a decades-long initiative, something they'll be working on for the next 10 to 20 years to get all of these bases ready, because it doesn't happen overnight. You don't get this many nuclear reactors overnight.

But the Department of Defense has made contracts with companies to produce mini nuclear reactors, and they should be deliverable by 2028. So they're going to start getting these bases on their own systems, which is what they need.

What About the Rest of the Grid?

The bases need their own systems, but what about the rest of the grid? What about everyone else? The grid itself just needs hardened. That's the main issue here: our grid and our infrastructure are extremely vulnerable. Combine that with the AI cyber events happening across the web (last week there was tons of stuff going on), and critical infrastructure like the power grid is vulnerable too. We don't just need to harden the bases.

Then there are electromagnetic pulses. EMPs were not mentioned in the FORTRESS initiative, but you can bet part of the hardening and resilience is going to be protecting against EMP events too. That would also protect us against a solar event, like a massive solar flare that could damage the power grid.

This is coming out of mainstream news, not just me speculating. The requirement reflects a broader shift in how the Pentagon is preparing for threats to the American homeland, including the possibility that a major conflict could disrupt the infrastructure supporting military operations inside the United States. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said:

"I realize that a lot of the way we think about homeland defense was built around the antiquated assumption that two oceans would protect us. President Trump understands that that world is gone and he's already paved the way for new thinking. Golden Dome, a renewed focus on Western Hemisphere, Greenland, Panama."

Drone Attacks on Bases and Critical Infrastructure

They are also extremely worried about drone attacks. That's the new reality in these wars: everything is drone warfare. Look at what Iran has been doing and how they've been able to hold their position for so many months. That's due to their extreme drone capabilities and production. They keep producing more drones, launching more waves of attacks and building up their stockpiles.

Remember the drone incidents at U.S. military bases a year or two ago? Every week another base was shutting down its airspace. NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen) were going out telling pilots to avoid the area because of unidentified drones and objects in the airspace. Everyone was asking where these drones were coming from. That's what they're worried about too: drones targeting our critical infrastructure.

Strategic Reserves and Backup Factories

FORTRESS calls for strategic reserves of munitions, fuel, critical minerals, electronics, spare parts and medical supplies that could sustain military operations if internal supply routes are disrupted or domestic manufacturers can't keep pace with wartime demand.

For the most critical defense dependencies, the initiative also requires at least two qualified supply or production pathways, so losing a single factory, supplier or industrial capability can't interrupt military operations.

They even want backups here in the U.S. They're worried a factory might catch fire, explode, get hit or have a cyber attack, which it seems like we see every few days. Just yesterday the world's largest food plant, in Iowa, exploded. I'm not saying it's related to this, but we see these things happening consistently, and even the military wants backups for its factories.

If the Pentagon Is Stocking Up, You Should Be Too

They're preparing for this and they're stocking up. You need to be thinking the same way. If the military is planning to run 90 days on its own power, water, fuel and supplies, you should have stockpiles of these things for yourself and your family too.

Stay Ahead of the Next Disaster With ReadyAtlas

I built ReadyAtlas to put everything I track in one place, including power grid emergencies, severe weather alerts, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes, space weather and air quality. You can see what's happening near you and get ready before it hits. Use it on your phone or computer, with monthly or yearly plans.

👉 Get ReadyAtlas now: monthly and yearly plans

Learn more at ReadyAtlas.org.

▶ Watch the full video: The Pentagon just Ordered All US Bases to GET PREPARED for the BIG ONE

What do you think of the Pentagon ordering these bases to get prepared for mass power outages and supply chain disruptions? Let me know in the comments on the video. Stay safe, stay prepared, and stay ready.