Army, Air Force special agents investigate refrigerator outages affecting several commissary stores

Three military criminal investigation agencies confirmed Tuesday agents are investigating refrigeration outages that occurred at commissary stores across the country within days of each other.

Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Cyber Field Office and Air Force Office of Special Investigations confirmed they have active investigations into the situation. The Air Force said that the Defense Criminal Investigative Agency is taking the lead.

None elaborated on the nature of the investigation.

Unverified sources have suggested the outages affected up to a dozen stores, though the Defense Department has declined to release anything beyond an acknowledgment of a “possible refrigeration disruption.”

It was also unclear Tuesday how many of the outages persisted at the stores, which remained open to sell dry goods.

The Defense Commissary Agency manages 235 stores worldwide and has referred questions about the situation to the Pentagon. Beginning Wednesday, stores reported issues with freezers and refrigerators. Some reported their appliances went into defrost mode, causing thousands of dollars of food to spoil.

At least six bases or stores shared information about the refrigeration outages to alert customers that they could not sell meat, dairy, produce or frozen foods.

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, who writes the Substack newsletter Signal and Silence. 

Fort Irwin officials said Monday in a Facebook post that all necessary freezer repairs were complete and inspection teams were confirming everything was ready for stocking items again.

“The commissary has placed emergency food orders and you should see items back in stock within the next 48 hours,” the base said.

Last 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.

Defense officials did not answer direct questions about whether there are concerns about unauthorized access to the commissary systems.

The CID Cyber Field Office investigates in response to computer intrusions, insider threats and other malicious cyber activities.