Pentagon mandates 90-day energy and supply independence for major U.S. bases

The Pentagon announced FORTRESS, which stands for Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability, on Sept. 30, 2026, requiring every major military installation in the continental United States to sustain essential operations independently for at least 90 days without civilian power or supply chains. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled the initiative, which obliges bases to generate their own power independently of the civilian grid while maintaining access to electricity, water, fuel, and communications. The mandate aims to ensure military operations continue even if civilian infrastructure or supply chains face disruption.

The Sept. 30 memorandum put FORTRESS America into force right away and ordered the acquisition and sustainment under-secretary to build a program office within 30 days. The memorandum ties FORTRESS America to the Future Year Defense Program and requires basing and infrastructure projects to contribute collectively to independence.

The Pentagon is establishing a FORTRESS America Program Office, led by interim director Richard ‘Matt’ O’Malley, to coordinate implementation across all military departments and defense agencies. Michael Duffey issued an Oct. 6, 2026, implementation directive naming O’Malley as interim director. A two-star military advisor will assist O’Malley. Duffey directed eight officials to designate a Senior Executive representative and an action officer authorized to coordinate directly with O’Malley no later than Wednesday.

O’Malley was nominated earlier this year as deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment but has not been confirmed by the Senate.

FORTRESS rests on five pillars: energy independence, supply chain and defense industrial base resilience, the strategic defense reserve, installation hardening and cyber resilience, and resilience in space and spectrum. Each pillar addresses critical vulnerabilities in military operations and infrastructure. FORTRESS reflects a shift from relying on two oceans as a defense strategy to preparing for threats on American soil, including in the Western Hemisphere, Greenland, and Panama.

To achieve energy independence, the Pentagon plans to deploy portable nuclear reactors, microgrids, battery storage, and renewable energy sources such as solar and geothermal power. Mission-critical power systems must be independent, hardened, and redundant. Solutions will vary by base to address unique vulnerabilities and operational needs, and may include fossil fuels such as natural gas alongside renewable options.

The Pentagon estimates achieving full energy independence for all 500-plus bases in the continental United States could take decades and require billions to hundreds of billions of dollars in investment. Officials are assessing the needs of around 500 bases and are trying to determine what FORTRESS will cost. Cost assessments are ongoing, with tailored solutions prioritized for each base.

Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida serves as a model for FORTRESS because of its Base of the Future redesign, which includes hardened infrastructure, microgrids, and advanced facilities after Hurricane Michael in 2018. The Air Force has spent about $5 billion restoring the base. The Next Great American Base project will pilot new resilience strategies and infrastructure designs, with lessons informing broader implementation across existing bases.

The Air Force started work in 2022 on a nuclear microreactor at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. Kadena Air Base in Japan deployed a microgrid with generators and solar power in 2023. More nuclear microreactors may go to Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado and Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana under a Defense Innovation Unit program.

Congress mandated that the Pentagon make 99.9 percent of the energy load required for critical missions resilient. A 2021 Department of the Air Force Installation Energy Strategic Plan warned of extended power disruptions lasting 30 or more days due to severe weather or cyber attacks. The 2024 Installation Infrastructure Action Plan directed the installation of microgrids at two Space Force bases and 14 Air Force bases by fiscal 2030.

Ravi Chaudhary, who helped author the Department of the Air Force’s 2024 Installation Infrastructure Action Plan, says U.S. bases are not a monolith and face kinetic and nonkinetic attacks from adversaries. He describes the United States as capital-intensive and says public-private partnerships can best leverage capital for national security needs. The Pentagon is exploring public-private partnerships to fund and accelerate FORTRESS implementation given the program’s high capital requirements.

Pentagon Energy Resilience Readiness Exercises, including simulated power outages, have demonstrated vulnerabilities in base operations and backup systems. The Pentagon is conducting installation assessments to understand power generation before deciding where to deploy energy solutions. At an Oct. 20 Defense Writers Group roundtable, a senior U.S. defense official called energy resilience a key early priority and said the Pentagon is not taking a wait-and-see approach. Other FORTRESS pillars may take years to complete, according to that official.

The Pentagon says FORTRESS requires reserves of munitions and fuel, together with electronics, spare parts, critical minerals, and medical supplies, so forces can sustain operations when global supply chains fail. Reserve levels are not fixed; they shift with consumption rates in a major conflict and with manufacturers’ replacement timelines. The Pentagon requires at least two qualified supply or production pathways for critical defense dependencies to mitigate single points of failure. This reduces the risk of operational interruptions due to loss of a single factory or supplier.

The Pentagon’s Civil Reserve Manufacturing Network will identify civilian factories capable of shifting to defense production during a crisis. It will establish technical specifications, cybersecurity protections, contracting arrangements, and conversion procedures in advance so factories can convert without waiting for conflict to begin. The network aims to avoid delays in wartime mobilization by preparing manufacturers ahead of time.

The Pentagon is securing domestic and allied supply chains for rare earths, specialty metals, semiconductors, and propellants to reduce reliance on overseas sources. Pete Hegseth said America would mine rare earths, specialty metals, semiconductors, and propellants, refine them in America, build them in America, with American workers. It will conduct recurring industrial stress tests and mobilization exercises to assess manufacturers’ ability to sustain production during prolonged disruptions. These tests evaluate readiness for wartime mobilization and supply chain resilience.

The Pentagon is hardening military installations against cyber intrusions, sabotage, and drone attacks. The work includes modernizing force protection, structural fortification, and zero-trust industrial control systems. Cybersecurity protections and zero-trust architectures for industrial control systems aim to prevent disruptions from cyber threats.

The Pentagon is preparing for prolonged disruptions to GPS signals and space-based assets, including interference or sabotage, to maintain military communications and navigation. The effort involves hardening satellite links and integrating agile electronic protection measures. Parnell posted on X that the Pentagon is securing satellites, spectrum, and the ability to see, navigate, and communicate.

The Pentagon cites historical attacks on energy infrastructure, such as the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, 2024 warnings about Chinese hackers, and conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, as justification for FORTRESS. Adversaries are increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure to disrupt military operations.

The Pentagon says current reliance on civilian infrastructure poses intolerable risks to national defense. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell emphasized that power disruptions could cripple communications, logistics, and command structures. A U.S. official describes Sean Parnell as the brain child behind FORTRESS becoming a reality and as Hegseth’s senior advisor. Parnell said, “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”.

The FORTRESS America Program Office will begin with a small core staff, expand to full operating capability within months, and pursue results in weeks, not years. FORTRESS America is designated a priority and directs all military departments, defense agencies, and field activities to support it. Duffey’s implementation directive provides no funding total and no list of individual projects. The strategic defense reserve pillar names no specific contents, size, or implementation timetable.