Commissaries across the US affected by refrigeration outages

At least six commissaries confirmed refrigeration outages this week, forcing the grocery stores to throw out thousands of dollars’ worth of meat, dairy, produce and frozen foods.

The Defense Commissary Agency, which manages 234 stores worldwide, did not respond to a request for comment on how many stores are affected and what may have caused multiple stores to experience the same issue on the same day.

The stores confirmed to be affected include Fort Irwin, Calif.; F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.; Fort Huachuca, Ariz.; Naval Station Newport, R.I.; Columbus Air Force Base, Miss.; and Travis Air Force Base, Calif., according to announcements made online by each installation.

Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif., also experienced an outage, according to M. Elizabeth, writer of the Substack newsletter Signal and Silence. 

Each service declined to answer questions about how many bases are affected by the outages, referring all questions to the Defense Department. Pentagon officials did not respond to questions.

However, a defense official said the department is aware of a “possible refrigeration disruption at some Defense Commissary Agency commissaries.” The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“DECA has taken appropriate precautions to transfer products to alternate temperature-controlled locations to mitigate any product loss. Commissaries remain open, and all possible measures are being taken to ensure food safety. Beyond this we have nothing additional to provide,” the official said.

Officials at Fort Huachuca on Thursday described on social media that all freezers went into defrost mode overnight.

“ALL frozen food has spoiled. At this time, there are NO frozen food items for sale until further notice. We will continue to provide updates as available,” according to the base.

At least six commissaries confirmed refrigeration outages, including at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. (Fort Huachuca Facebook page)

Officials further updated the community that produce and additional reach-in coolers were also affected.

Stores remain open but are unable to sell cold-storage items at this time.

Maggie Bullard-Marshall, COO for Aldevra, said they have not sold many refrigerators to commissaries through this contract and that they have not received any service calls about them this week. The company has received requests for purchases this week.

The provided refrigerators don’t connect to a network, but there are systems that can be added for remote monitoring, she said.

The commissary agency’s contract request for refrigeration needs also included requirements for a vendor to provide monitoring-and-control systems that could be monitored remotely. The contractor would maintain a master control system located within the United States, according to the contract.

Earlier this month, several security news outlets cited research that noted there can be security flaws in refrigeration systems that make them vulnerable to an outside attack.