• Three US soldiers were killed in a drone attack at a military outpost in Jordan last year.
• BI obtained the investigation into the attack, outlining the failures that preceded the carnage.
• It points to extensive problems among the command and control soldiers who handled base security.

Intelligence had come in before the fatal strike on the US military base that an imminent attack was possible. The base soldiers responsible for tracking threats were monitoring the situation. But they say they never saw the hostile drone coming.

Business Insider obtained the US Army command investigation into the January 28, 2024, attack on Tower 22, a small logistics outpost in northeastern Jordan. An explosive-packed drone launched by an Iranian-aligned militia group killed three American troops and wounded over 100 more.

After the deadly blast, a soldier whose name and position were both redacted in the investigation jumped out of bed and rushed into the Base Defense Operations Center responsible for overseeing the defenses, asking why they didn't catch it.

Another soldier interviewed for the investigation characterized the inquiries at that moment differently, reporting that they were screaming, asking, "How did you guys not see it?"

Everyone in the BDOC said nothing was on any of their systems, aside from a couple of tracks they dismissed as balloons or trash.

"I could've sworn I was looking at the radar 30 seconds before the attack and didn't see anything on it," one soldier recalled, adding that they "don't remember seeing anything that was even close."

Just before the attack, though, the BDOC's focus was on a Scan Eagle recon drone that was landing at the base. That soldier acknowledged that it might have been a distraction.

Finding failures

The Army investigation uncovered extensive problems among the command and control soldiers handling base security.

Threat assessments were conducted regularly at Tower 22, and all of them determined there was a high risk of attack. The investigation indicated that base defenders at the time of the attack, however, were unprepared to meet the threat.

The report identified several failures, including a lack of key leadership presence, "cumulative exhaustion from an insufficient number" of base defense crew shifts, and "inadequate, poorly rehearsed, and overly centralized battle drills."

It also pointed to a failure to recognize the threat of attacks from certain directions. For example, it says personnel at the base erroneously assumed the southern approach to the base was safe. There was some confusion on where the drone came from.

The investigation said all the soldiers working the night shift at the BDOC when the drone attack happened said they saw two tracks south of Tower 22 on radar but didn't look into them.

The soldiers shared that the tracks observed to the south of Tower 22 before the attack were "too far away," were "moving too slowly," or were "possibly birds or trash," the investigation said, noting that this indicated "their negligent departure from their own" standard operating procedure.

The investigation said that "at the time of the attack, the BDOC crew also admitted they were very focused on watching the Scan Eagle recovery and did not interrogate or assess the unknown air tracks to the south of Tower 22 with the Night Hawk camera." A Scan Eagle drone is a low-altitude surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft that is made by US aerospace company Boeing.

Soldiers said that the Scan Eagle drone returned to Tower 22 just moments before an explosion rocked the base at around 5:30 a.m.

The reported missteps moments before the attack indicate a command failure for the BDOC crew that was supposed to monitor threats. Soldiers were confused about the leadership roles at the time and felt they couldn't make big decisions, "even when faced with imminent danger to the base," the investigation said.

"We do assess that the BDOC night shift crew was not properly manned with the appropriate rank and experience level required of those positions given the current threat environment at Tower 22 and the important decisions required to protect the personnel on the base," even though senior leaders were available, the report explained.

US Central Command did not respond to Business Insider about any accountability actions taken prior to publication.

One document included in the investigation said there was no advanced warning from any radar or other system at either Tower 22 or the nearby Al-Tanf Garrison, a US military base several miles away in Syria. The bomb-laden enemy drone destroyed a six-person housing unit and damaged surrounding ones, killing three Army National Guard soldiers and wounding 104 others.

The deadly Tower 22 incident came amid a larger campaign of Iran-backed militia attacks on American forces across the Middle East over the US stance in the Israel-Hamas war. The Biden administration responded days later with widespread airstrikes on Tehran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria.

Drone challenges

Crucially, the Tower 22 incident underscores the challenges of detecting small drones packed with explosives and the related readiness requirements. These munitions, increasingly being used in combat, are very different from traditional threats like missiles. They are more easily acquired by threat actors, have small radar signatures that can be mistaken for other things, and demand vigilance to engage. And even then, they can be missed.

The US recognizes that drones are a significant problem, representing a major threat to the force. In December, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that adversary drones "have evolved rapidly" in recent years, adding that "cheap systems are increasingly changing the battlefield, threatening US installations, and wounding or killing our troops."

Toward the end of the Biden administration, the Department of Defense outlined its approach to the drone threat. The US is looking to build up its inventory of counter-drone capabilities. Such systems were in place at Tower 22, but something else went wrong.

In the recommendations in the Tower 22 investigation, it was suggested that US Army Central, tasked with Middle East operations, establish a "comprehensive and standardized" BDOC/counter-drone crew training scheme for all units before deploying to a region where counter-drone capabilities or missions may be needed.

The report recommended that the program "include recent experiences, TTPs [tactics, techniques, and procedures], and lessons learned from across" the Centcom area of responsibility.

• Vice President JD Vance and Usha Vance will visit the US military's base in Greenland on Friday.
• Pituffik Space Base was established in 1951 as part of a defense treaty between the US and Denmark.
• Base operations include scientific research, space surveillance, and ballistic missile detection.

Visitors to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland are greeted by a sign welcoming them to the "top of the world."

As the US military's northernmost installation, Pituffik Space Base's operations include scientific research, space surveillance, and missile detection.

Greenland's abundant natural resources and proximity to Russia and China have made it a valuable strategic asset since World War II — so much so that US President Donald Trump has often expressed his intent to purchase the autonomous Danish territory.

Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance are set to visit the military base on Friday amid rising tensions between the US, Denmark, and Greenland.

Here's a look inside Greenland's only US military base.

Trump wants to buy Greenland

Trump first expressed interest in buying Greenland, the world's largest island and an autonomous Danish territory, during his first presidency. In addition to being rich in natural resources, Greenland's Arctic location is well-placed to further US interests by countering China and Russia.

Since his reelection, Trump has repeatedly conveyed his desire to acquire Greenland and said he would not rule out the use of military force to take it.

"We need Greenland for national security. One way or the other we're going to get it," he said in his joint address to Congress in March.

Both Denmark and Greenland's leaders have maintained that the island is not for sale.

JD Vance's visit to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland

Second lady Usha Vance was originally scheduled to visit Greenland on a solo trip from Thursday through Saturday to "visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersua, Greenland's national dogsled race," the White House said.

Instead, the trip has been scaled back. The vice president and second lady are scheduled to visit Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, the US military's northernmost installation, on Friday.

Usha Vance's solo trip could have violated diplomatic protocol by sending a delegation to another country without an invitation. The amended plan — visiting a US base — avoids that potential violation. While Trump said on Monday that "people from Greenland are asking us to go there," the government of Greenland said they had not invited any foreign delegations to visit.

"Just for the record, Naalakkersuisut, the government of Greenland, has not extended any invitations for any visits, neither private nor official," the government's official Facebook page wrote in a post on Monday.

Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede also called Usha Vance's planned trip "very aggressive" in an interview with Sermitsiaq, a Greenlandic newspaper.

"Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance are proud to visit the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland this Friday," Taylor Van Kirk, JD Vance's press secretary, told Business Insider on Thursday. "As the vice president has said, previous US leaders have neglected Arctic security, while Greenland's Danish rulers have neglected their security obligations to the island. The security of Greenland is critical in ensuring the security of the rest of the world, and the Vice President looks forward to learning more about the island."

Why does the US have a military base in Greenland?

While the US doesn't own Greenland, it has had a military presence there since World War II.

Pituffik Space Base, originally named Thule Air Base, was formally established in 1951 as part of a Cold War-era defense treaty between the US and Denmark. It is located in Pituffik, Greenland, 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle and halfway between New York and Moscow.

As a Danish territory, Greenland does not have a military of its own.

The US' northernmost active military base

As the Pentagon's northernmost military base, Pituffik Space Base acts as a key Arctic defense outpost. Because of its location on the "top of the world," it is an optimal vantage point for monitoring missile launches by US adversaries like Russia and establishing space superiority.

The base is the site of a phased-array radar, which can detect sea-launched and intercontinental ballistic missiles, and a surface-to-air missile system, which intercepts hostile threats.

The base has a Satellite Command and Control system to maintain real-time communications and data relay with military and intelligence satellites. Its high-altitude location also allows it to more frequently track polar-orbit satellites, which can monitor the entire Earth's surface over time as the planet rotates below them.

Rotational combat force

Because Pituffik's primary mission is space surveillance and missile warning, the space base doesn't house a permanently stationed fighter wing or naval fleet.

Instead, it acts as a strategic logistics and defense hub for Arctic missions and under-ice operations. From the site, which is the world's northernmost deep-water seaport, surface vessels and submarines operated by the US Navy and allied forces conduct Arctic patrols and cold-weather training exercises.

Aircraft regularly fly in and out of the former air base, such as military cargo and refueling planes and maritime patrol aircraft. Occasionally, fighter jets and long-range bombers will fly to the base for Arctic deterrence deployments and training flights.

The US Air Force's only tugboat

While it doesn't have a permanent combat force, the Air Force does have one tugboat at Pituffik to support port operations, icebreaking, and maneuvering ships.

A small but significant asset, the Rising Star helps keep supply routes open by breaking up and pushing floating ice. The tugboat guides supply ships through the port, making it a critical component in bringing fuel, food, and equipment to personnel year-round.

However, since the base is locked in by ice for nine months of the year, the Rising Star gets limited use because it can only be operated when the port is completely ice-free.

Conditions in Greenland

Pituffik Space Base is surrounded by ice for nine months out of every year. The closest town, the Inuit village of Qaanaaq, is located 65 miles away.

Temperatures can range from 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, when there are 24 hours of daylight, to -50 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, when there is no sunlight for weeks.

Winter storms are categorized into five levels from least to most severe: Normal, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. At the Bravo level, the buddy system is implemented so that no one walks outside alone. Non-essential facilities close at the Charlie level, and personnel must shelter in place during Delta storms.

Life on base

About 150 personnel are stationed at Pituffik.

The Dundas Buffet Dining Hall on base serves three meals a day with payments accepted through a meal card.

The Base Exchange, also known as "BX," sells groceries, toiletries, souvenirs, and other assorted goods. It also houses a barber shop.

There are no ATMs at Pituffik Space Base, but the Base Exchange accepts debit and credit cards as well as US dollars.

Recreational spaces

Pituffik Space Base features a bowling alley, a chapel, and a community center with a theater and craft room.

There's also a gymnasium and workout room stocked with weights and treadmills.

Pituffik Space Base's official Facebook page shows personnel participating in recreational events such as a Hawaiian-themed Arctic luau party, Greenlandic Heritage Week, and cross-country skiing.

Abandoned US military bases

The US built airbases and weather stations across the ice sheet during World War II as refueling stops on transatlantic flights and supply routes.

Two decommissioned airbases are now being used as civilian airports, and a third was abandoned after the war ended.

During the Cold War, the US Air Force also built four stations on Greenland's coasts as part of a larger communication network of more than 60 radar installations to detect Soviet bombers. Most of the stations have since been deactivated, left to deteriorate atop Greenland's ice sheet.

Late last year, NASA scientists detected an underground base for a top-secret Cold War-era missile operation known as Camp Century. Now buried 100 feet under the ice, the abandoned network of subterranean tunnels once operated under the guise of an Arctic research facility before the US government declassified it in 1995.

Looming environmental threat

But the abandoned military sites represent more than just relics of past global conflicts. Thousands of gallons of biological, chemical, and radioactive waste left behind on the bases pose a significant environmental threat, especially as the planet warms.

The US military failed to clean up decommissioned facilities like Camp Century, assuming the ice sheet would entomb the waste and infrastructure over the years.

However, at the current melting rate of the Arctic, researchers estimate that the waste could resurface around 2100. The question remains as to who is responsible for cleaning up the waste from abandoned US military facilities scattered throughout Greenland.

Greenland's desire for independence

The US has long pursued access to or control over Greenland due to its strategic and economic significance, dating back as early as the late 19th century.

Since his return to the White House, Trump has continued to double down on his ambitions to secure the self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, saying he won't rule out military force or economic coercion to do so.

Though the Danish government has remained steadfast in refusing the sale, Trump's so-called "real estate deal" has spotlighted Greenland's growing desire for independence from Denmark and disinterest in being owned by anybody, including the US.

"Greenland is for the Greenlandic people," Greenland Prime Minister Egede said at a January news conference. "We do not want to be Danish. We do not want to be American. We want to be Greenlandic."

• The US has had a military presence in Greenland since World War II.
• But an abandoned underground military site poses a major environmental threat as the planet warms.
• Researchers found thousands of gallons of waste buried under the ice sheet could resurface by 2100.

The US has long sought Greenland, whether access or control, because of its strategic and economic importance, dating back as early as the late 19th century.

President Donald Trump doubled down on his long-standing ambitions to acquire Greenland in January, saying he won't rule out military force or economic coercion to secure the territory of a NATO ally.

While Denmark has repeatedly refused to sell ownership of the self-governing territory, the US has maintained a military presence in Greenland since World War II. The US military built several bases and sites across Greenland's ice sheet, most of which were left abandoned or decommissioned after the Cold War. Vice President JD Vance is set to visit the only operational US base there, Pituffik Space Base, on Friday with his wife.

Greenland's formidable ice was also the biggest problem for a legendary Cold War-era top secret project — a tunnel city under the ice designed to store hundreds of nuclear missiles within firing distance of the Soviet Union.

Camp Century was presented to the public as an Arctic research facility after it was built in 1960, but the covert missile operation wasn't declassified by the US government until 1995.

NASA scientists detected the abandoned "city under the ice" 100 feet below the surface last year, sparking concerns about its potential environmental hazards as the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than any other region on Earth.

Tunneling through snow and ice

Construction began in 1959 on the $8 million remote facility, located about 150 miles away from Thule Air Base, a key Arctic defense outpost and the US' northernmost active military base; it is now named Pituffik Space Base.

Named Camp Century because it was initially intended to be located 100 miles from the Greenland ice cap, the site was plagued by harsh winter conditions, including winds as high as 125 miles per hour and temperatures as low as -70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Members of the US Army Corps of Engineers transported 6,000 tons of supplies and materials to the site to dig nearly two dozen underground tunnels covered by steel arches and a layer of snow, completing the subterranean base in late 1960.

'A city under the ice'

Camp Century's largest trench, known as "Main Street," was about 26 feet wide and stretched over 1,000 feet. The sprawling underground complex housed as many as 200 personnel underground.

Engineers drilled a well in the camp to access 10,000 gallons of fresh water daily, and insulated, heated piping ran throughout the facility for water and electricity.

The base also featured a kitchen and cafeteria, medical clinic, laundry area, communications center, and dormitories. The facility also featured a recreation hall, chapel, and barbershop.

'Almost science fiction'

Camp Century was powered by a 400-ton portable nuclear reactor, the first of its kind. Due to the subfreezing temperatures making the metal very brittle, transporting the PM-2 reactor had to be handled with extreme care during installation.

Soldiers maintained the medium-power reactor daily by cutting back snow and ice with chainsaws to protect it from damage. The PM-2 reactor operated for nearly three years before it was deactivated and removed from the facility.

"Think of all the energy and resources it took to do this, to build those tunnels and put soldiers down there. It's almost science fiction," Paul Bierman, a geoscientist who studied soil samples from the site, told National Geographic. "No one would dream of doing that today."

Public location, covert purpose

The US publicly presented Camp Century as a scientific research facility, where researchers and engineers were tasked with analyzing ice cap conditions, glacial movement, and cold-weather survival.

However, the scientific objective of the facility was a cover for a top-secret US operation, known as "Project Iceworm," to store and deploy hundreds of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.

The initiative remained covert to circumvent Denmark's strict nuclear-free policy following WWII while taking advantage of Greenland's proximity to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Project Iceworm

Project Iceworm sought to expand the existing facility by an additional 52,000 square miles — three times the size of Denmark — to house 60 launch control centers. The facility would have stored up to 600 "Iceman" missiles, modified two-stage intercontinental ballistic missiles with a range of 3,300 miles.

Aside from its strategic location less than 3,000 miles away from Moscow, Project Iceworm was also seen as a potential way to secure alliances and share nuclear weapons with other NATO countries, particularly France, which wanted to be part of the nuclear partnership between the US and the UK.

However, the military operation faced significant challenges, including overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, modifying the Iceman missile to endure extremely cold conditions, and even just continuing underground operations as the Greenland ice sheet became increasingly unstable.

The Army decided not to risk the loss of hundreds of missiles if the facility collapsed, eventually canceling Project Iceworm just three years after Camp Century was built.

The facility continued to operate at a limited capacity before it was abandoned in 1967.

Some scientific success

While missiles were never transported to Camp Century, researchers found some success in their studies of ice cores collected at the site and deep soil analysis.

The research ultimately contributed to the development of climate models, according to Bierman, who is a professor at the University of Vermont. Ancient soil samples collected at Camp Century were composed of leaves, mosses, twigs, and insects that offered Bierman and his team into how the climate crisis could impact the Arctic over the next century.

"It takes you from 1966 to global climate change and onward to the effects of Greenland's melting," Bierman said. "That's pretty profound."

"There are things we can learn about ice sheets that we can never learn from the ice itself," he added. "It comes from the stuff below the ice."

A ticking radioactive time bomb

After the camp was decommissioned in 1967, the US military failed to remove the facility's waste and infrastructure, assuming that it would eventually be entombed in Greenland's ice sheet over the subsequent decades.

Though Camp Century now resides under nearly 100 feet of snow and ice, researchers took inventory of what was left behind and found nearly 136 acres of waste — about the size of 100 football fields. A 2016 study found that more than 50,000 gallons of diesel fuel, 63,000 gallons of sewage and radioactive coolant, thousands of gallons of wastewater, and an unknown amount of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) remained buried at the abandoned facility.

At the current melting rate of the Arctic, researchers estimate that the waste could resurface around 2100, releasing pollutants that pose a major threat to surrounding ecosystems and human health.

"Two generations ago, people were interring waste in different areas of the world, and now climate change is modifying those sites," William Colgan, a climate and glacier scientist at York University and lead author of the study, said in a 2016 statement.

"Once the site transitions from net snowfall to net melt, it's only a matter of time before the wastes melt out; it becomes irreversible," he continued.

Who's on cleanup duty?

As the threat of biological, chemical, and radioactive waste looms, the question remains as to who is responsible for cleaning up the waste, from Camp Century and other abandoned US military facilities scattered throughout Greenland.

In 2018, Greenland and Denmark signed an agreement allocating 180 million Danish kroner — about $29 million — over six years to clean up some of the US military bases. In 2021, the cleanup efforts were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US hasn't formally taken responsibility to clean up its abandoned facilities. If Trump were to carry through on acquiring Greenland, the world's largest island that is believed to be suffuse with valuable rare earth minerals, the US would contend directly with this looming environmental disaster.

Colgan told Politico there haven't been any attempts to clean up Camp Century so far amid fears of disturbing the radioactive site too much.

"There is actually a conscious effort not to drill into the debris field," he said. "We don't actually know the full nature of what's down there."

• Drone sightings across the US have captivated many Americans and sparked widespread speculation.
• The sightings have also put a spotlight on airspace management strategies in the US.
• Experts say the focus should be on improved regulation and countermeasures instead of hysteria.

A recent wave of mysterious drone sightings across the US has, to a certain extent, kick-started a long-overdue discussion on drone technology and airspace management.

These drone sightings have captured national attention, and the public is now paying more attention to drone activity near US military bases. Federal agencies are talking to the public about drone issues. And there's more public discussion of congressional legislation to boost federal authority as the government says it's hamstrung in its ability to respond to drone threats.

"There's a fundamental notion that drones present a very, very new expanded type of threat," Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told Business Insider, noting that the US largely lacks "the tactics and the procedures to deal with this."

Birkey said many people are "overplaying" the mystery behind the latest drone sightings. But the resulting buzz is driving conversations about counterstrategies and systems that "should have happened a long time ago."

Officials from the White House, FBI, DHS, DoD, and the FAA have urged Congress to "enact counter-UAS legislation when it reconvenes that would help extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge." This has been a recurring topic in press briefings in recent weeks.

"The good news is that technology largely exists" to address the challenges presented by drone tech, Birkey said. "We just have to get serious about going after it and then having the procedures down to be smart about it."

The latest drone drama

In mid-November, unidentified aircraft were first seen flying over New Jersey. They drew national attention as reported sightings extended to Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York, among other states, this month.

It wasn't until worry and wild speculation about the drones reached a fever pitch that agencies began a more organized effort to communicate. In the initial absence, others filled the void with conspiracy theories, a major one being that the drones were launched from an Iranian drone mothership off the US East Coast.

The federal government has shot many of these assertions down, saying they're not of foreign origin and not a threat.

The White House, FBI, Homeland Security, Pentagon, and FAA have said that all the evidence available indicates the drone sightings are a mixture of "lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones."

Though not nefarious, US officials said they "recognize the concern among many communities" and the "irresponsible" nature of the drone activity near restricted airspace and infrastructure, including military bases and civilian airports.

Things have "sort of moved to a point of hysteria," said Stacie Pettyjohn, the director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security. She said that "the public has gotten really agitated because of the perceived novelty of drones or the danger associated with them."

She said "people seeing drones everywhere" are "starting to conflate just normal air traffic and anything in the sky and assuming that something nefarious or strange is happening."

But even as the government has attempted to quell concerns, skepticism remains, leading some to push for greater clarity on this issue so that drones can be discussed rationally.

William Austin, a drone expert and president of Warren County Community College, said the federal government needs to be clear with the public in this situation.

He wrote in a recent op-ed that "the public needs clear, authoritative communication: there is no credible evidence of large drones operating over New Jersey,"

Austin argued in his article that "the drone industry has too much to offer — cutting-edge technology, job creation, and life-saving applications — to be derailed by myths." He said, "We need facts, not speculation."

Drones are becoming prolific

Surging interest and investment in new drone tech have catalyzed rapid advancements, transforming the technology at an unprecedented pace in recent years.

Increasing competition in the global market is making drones more accessible, affordable, and user-friendly, expanding their use beyond traditional military and defense applications to sectors like agriculture, logistics, and recreation.

"It's part of the changing technological landscape that extends beyond just the military," Pettyjohn said. "It's not just the realm of the government anymore to have really sophisticated capabilities. It's just part of everyday society."

Commercial and civilian drones only began to emerge in the early 2000s, leaving the general public largely unaccustomed to encountering them in their daily lives.

The high-profile Chinese spy balloon incident last year that ended with it being shot down by a US fighter jet spotlighted aerial surveillance as a potential threat to public safety and national security. Terrorist and insurgent operations, as well as the widespread use of drone warfare in Ukraine, have also heightened fears regarding their possible weaponization.

And there are real risks, regardless of whether drone activity is malicious. As drone technology proliferates further, activities around military bases and airfields are becoming a "huge problem" for the US, Mark Cancian, a defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired US Marine Corps colonel, recently told BI.

A US military base in Ohio briefly closed its airspace after small drones were spotted in the area, and the runways at a New York airport were also briefly shut down due to nearby drone activity.

Sociologist and New York Times columnist Zeynep Tufekci wrote that the hysteria and drama of the recent drone situation aside, "unauthorized drones are a problem, and there does need to be better regulation and technology to deal with them. Let's hear about that, then, rather than this mindless dangerous panic."