Pentagon Reportedly Plans for US Military Bases to Operate 90 Days Without Outside Support

The Pentagon is reportedly planning for every major US military base to continue operating without outside help for 90 days if an attack cuts off power and supply chains.

'Mostly True': Snopes (Lean Left bias), in a fact-check article, called the claim "mostly true." The article highlighted a Fox News (Right) article that reported exclusively on the 90-day requirement and quoted Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell throughout the coverage. Snopes said that while Parnell shared the Fox report on X, he did not explicitly confirm the requirement and explained that this was why the outlet rated the claim "mostly true." The outlet also featured a video posted to Facebook explaining the plan, adding that the user who posted the video suggested that the plan "would leave civilians 'on their own' by taking away investment from shared resources."  

'Unprecedented Plan': Outlets on the right like Fox News and ZeroHedge (Lean Right) highlighted the "doomsday" nature of the plan, with ZeroHedge calling it "unprecedented." ZeroHedge said that "the ongoing threats to America's power grid come from both foreign adversaries and domestic saboteurs," and mentioned that "In February 2024, the NSA and other federal agencies warned that Chinese state-sponsored hackers linked to Volt Typhoon had compromised critical U.S. infrastructure networks, including energy, water, transportation, and communications systems."

'Planning For Disruptions': Fortune (Center) highlighted that America is not the only country preparing for disaster or attack, explaining that "Britain is telling families to keep canned food, bottled water, and cash on hand to get through three days of disruption." The article added that "the two efforts aren't known to be coordinated, and neither government has said that a new war is imminent," but added that "both are planning for disruptions that could leave homes and military installations without the services they depend on."

FORTRESS: The 90-day requirement is a part of the so-called Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability (FORTRESS), which is "a broader military initiative aimed at ensuring American forces can continue fighting even if the civilian systems they depend on are disrupted," according to the Fox News article. The initiative was initially announced on September 30 by Pete Hegseth during a "State of the Force" speech in Quantico, Virginia. The plan, Fox laid out, "envisions portable nuclear reactors, large-scale battery storage and microgrids," but also includes plans for water, food, munitions, fuel, and "laying the groundwork for civilian factories to shift to defense production during a crisis."

RELATED: Hegseth Describes Culture Shift, New Military Projects in 'State of the Force' Speech 

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