Travis Air Force Base was among at least six U.S. military installations affected by mysterious freezer and refrigeration failures in August, incidents that the Pentagon is now treating as a possible cyberattack, according to multiple media reports.
The failures affected on-base commissaries, where military personnel and their families purchase groceries, resulting in spoiled food and disrupted sales. Military investigators are examining whether hackers deliberately manipulated refrigeration systems, potentially connecting the U.S. incidents to a series of cyberattacks targeting supermarkets in France.
Reuters first reported the Pentagon’s suspected-hack investigation Thursday, citing four officials familiar with the matter. The Military Times also reported on the investigation, noting that federal authorities are working with French counterparts to examine similarities between the incidents.
Other installations reporting refrigeration problems included Fort Huachuca in Arizona, F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island, Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, and Fort Irwin in California.
Details about the specific failure at Travis Air Force Base were not immediately available.
According to Reuters, at least six commissaries experienced refrigeration malfunctions in late August. In some cases, cooling systems appeared to have been manipulated rather than simply experiencing equipment failures.
Fort Huachuca officials described the problem in an Aug. 26 Facebook post, saying all the commissary’s freezers had gone into defrost mode overnight, causing all frozen food to spoil. The problem also affected produce and additional refrigerated cases, according to the post.
“ALL freezers went into defrost mode – ALL frozen food has spoiled,” the installation announced.
Reuters reported that, in at least one instance, refrigeration units had their temperatures turned up overnight, leaving large quantities of food spoiled by morning.
The Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Cyber Field Office is participating in the investigation alongside the Defense Commissary Agency and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, according to information provided to Fox News by an Army CID spokesperson.
The Pentagon also confirmed to Reuters that a unit of U.S. Cyber Command was working with interagency and law enforcement partners, but declined to provide additional details about the investigation or its progress.
Investigators are also communicating with French law enforcement about similar refrigeration outages in Europe.
The Pentagon has not announced any conclusions about the cause of the August failures or identified anyone responsible.
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