Fort Buchanan succeeds while facing a real-world power outage and a large fire during New Year’s Eve

FORT BUCHANAN, PUERTO RICO—In what represents a clear testament to the high level of readiness of the only U.S. Army installation in the Caribbean, personnel assigned to tenant units and directorates simultaneously supported real-life missions at the installation and in the community due to local emergencies on Dec. 31.

As families across the U.S. territory planned for their New Year’s Eve celebration, Puerto Rico suffered the latest in a string of widespread power outages that have left 1.3 million customers, some 80% of the entire island, in the dark.

Fortunately, Fort Buchanan has proactively installed backup generation assets at all the critical buildings at the installation, which has secured continuous operations.

During a morning Emergency Operations Center meeting, the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security gathered most tenants and directorates to inform, prepare, respond, and gather feedback from the installation acting commander, Lt. Col. Sean K. Cook.

“It is extremely important that we keep accountability of our people at all times,” said Cook during the encounter.

Shortly after that critical meeting, the installation’s Logistics Readiness Center (LRC), led by Onel Colón, executed fuel supply operations in coordination with the Directorate of Public Works to support those prepositioned generation assets.

“Our role is to conduct fueling and refueling operations to ensure that the generators that support critical missions across the installation have the appropriate level of fuel during this emergency,” said Colón.

Ricky Vázquez and Efrain Colón Cruz, LRC’s certified fuel handlers executed the mission.

“I have been doing these fueling operations for over seven years. We do this on a regular basis here at Fort Buchanan. I am glad I can serve during these emergencies,” said a proud Colón-Cruz.

According to the LRC director, generators already had enough fuel to last approximately 48 hours at the time of the blackout. However, they always send the fuel team to validate that the generators are ready.

“Our mission never stops. If needed, we will be here during New Year’s Day to ensure the generators continue operating,” added Colón.

The LRC has a strategic fuel point to support DoD operations across the region and fuel delivery trucks. The organization quickly executed its Standard Operating Procedures to request thousands of additional fuel gallons from the Defense Logistics Agency to sustain ongoing operations.

According to local authorities, the blackout could last several days.

Meanwhile, Fort Buchanan firefighters deployed to San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital city, to support the local Fire Department due to a large fire at a Puerto Rico Convention District construction site.

Fort Buchanan Fire Department provided personnel and equipment.

“We are very grateful for the rapid response of the San Juan city, the State, and Fort Buchanan’s Fire Departments, who arrived quickly to fight the fire and control the situation, preventing the fire affected other areas. Thanks to them, we extinguished the fire very quickly,” said Carlos Acevedo, San Juan Emergency Department Director.

Fort Buchanan’s quick reaction to these New Year’s Eve real-world emergencies has demonstrated the installation’s critical role and posture in Puerto Rico and the region.

With an annual investment in the local economy of over $500 million, Fort Buchanan serves a diverse military community of approximately 15,000 active-duty Reserve, National Guard, Marine Corps Reserve, and Navy Reserve personnel. Fort Buchanan’s mission is to serve as a readiness enhancement platform and facilitate the deployment of military personnel to any place at any time.