Multiple drone sightings occurred on a single night within the past 10 days over Fort McNair, with the origin of the drones that breached the airspace remaining unknown. On March 9, a large number of unauthorized drones were seen flying over Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, triggering a lockdown. S.
Air Force, has a fleet of more than 40 B-52 bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons, and a population of approximately 15,000. The exact number of drones involved in the sightings over Fort McNair and Barksdale Air Force Base has not been disclosed. Fort McNair is home to the National Defense University and some of the Pentagon's most senior officers, and its location near Capitol Hill and the White House makes it geographically convenient but with a weaker safety buffer zone than other Washington bases.
The Pentagon is looking into installing an anti-drone laser system at Fort Lesley J. McNair base to address these security vulnerabilities. S.
military bases have raised their force-protection levels to 'Charlie' due to intelligence indicating a possible attack, though the specific intelligence prompting this escalation has not been revealed. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and MacDill Air Force Base in Florida were escalated to Charlie this week. The only higher force-protection designation than Charlie is Delta, which means an attack is imminent or has occurred.
MacDill Air Force Base faced two separate security scares: a suspicious package that shut down its visitors center for hours on Monday, and an unspecified incident on Wednesday that forced a shelter-in-place order, with the nature of that incident remaining unclear. S. diplomatic posts worldwide to conduct immediate security evaluations, citing the ongoing situation in the Middle East and potential spillover effects.
A senior administration official said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have not moved from Fort McNair. The drone sightings prompted an immediate security review and a White House meeting on how to respond, though details of that meeting have not been disclosed. The military is closely monitoring potential threats to senior government figures amid the Trump administration's conflict with Iran.