Last week the Naming Commission submitted to Congress name changes for nine Army bases with Confederacy-affiliated names. The renaming process report fulfilled requirements mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021.
The renaming process began in 2020 after woke leftists burned cities, tore down monuments, and violated grave memorials in the name of ending racism and erasing history, while demanding their righteous egalitarian worldview be the only one that we all must accept. We witnessed this form of discrimination being accepted by governments, communities, and schools. Nothing was spared the wrath of these radicals fed by Marxist beliefs while highlighting the soft tyranny in America that Tocqueville warned us about.
The Naming Commission was tasked with removing all Confederate States of America (C.S.A.) related names and symbols. This report that was sent to Congress is Part One of three reports on the suggested removal and replacement of all things Confederate in the Army. Part Two will address assets of the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy, and Part Three will address all Department of Defense (DoD) assets not covered in the first two parts.
The nine Army bases being renamed upon Congressional approval:
- Fort Benning to be renamed Fort Moore, in commemoration of LTG Hal Moore and Julia Moore.
- Fort Bragg to be renamed Fort Liberty in commemoration of the American value of Liberty.
- Fort Gordon to be renamed Fort Eisenhower, in commemoration of General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- Fort A.P. Hill to be renamed Fort Walker, in commemoration of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker.
- Fort Hood to be renamed Fort Cavazos, in commemoration of General Richard E. Cavazos.
- Fort Lee to be renamed Fort Gregg-Adams, in commemoration of LTG Arthur J. Gregg and LTC Charity Adams.
- Fort Pickett to be renamed Fort Barfoot, in commemoration of T/SGT Van T. Barfoot.
- Fort Polk to be renamed Fort Johnson, in commemoration of SGT William Henry Johnson.
- Fort Rucker to be renamed Fort Novosel in commemoration of CW4 Michael J. Novosel Sr.
The renaming will cost a little more than $21 million, according to estimates from the commission. It includes the cost of scrubbing the names of all nine installations, as well as changing or removing any other Confederate-affiliated symbols, displays, monuments, or paraphernalia found on the bases.
But how did these American military bases gain the Confederacy-affiliated names in the first place?
Originally, U.S. forts or posts were named primarily for war heroes or prominent figures in American history, as determined by the War Department and the headquarters of the Army. On many occasions, naming decisions were left up to local commanders; as a result, most installations prior to World War I were named innocuously for whomever the Army district commanding officer or neighborhood leaders wanted.
Installations in the South tended to be named after local Rebel heroes — either by the community that honored their Confederate heritage, or by the Army, which believed that Confederate history was a part of its own.
Most of these camps closed at the end of World War I, but a few — including Camp Bragg in North Carolina and Georgia’s Camp Gordon — were selected to become permanent posts.
With America’s likely entrance into World War II, the War Department again began to expand the Army, and with it more training posts. Some old camps were reinvigorated and new ones built, like Camp Hood, Texas, in 1942. The naming conventions had remained more or less the same between the wars, so local communities in consultation with the Army got to help name those installations growing up around them.
At the end of WWII, the Army formalized its naming conventions for posts, forts, and installations through a board called the Army Memorialization Board. Governed by Army regulations, this board was charged with ensuring all Army post names met at least one of five criteria. Someone so honored by the Army would need to be:
- “a national hero of absolute preeminence by virtue of high position.
- an individual who held a position of high and extensive responsibility (Army and above) and whose death was a result of battle wounds.
- an individual who held a position of high and extensive responsibility and whose death was not a result of battle wounds.
- an individual who performed an act of heroism or who held a position of high responsibility and whose death was a result of battle wounds.
- an individual who performed an act of heroism or who held a position of high responsibility and whose death was not a result of battle wounds.”
At that time, the Army evidently thought each C.S.A. name met at least one of these criteria.
The current renaming process now underway has quite a comprehensive renaming, removal, and naming criteria that is required by Section 370 of the FY21 NDAA, and is too much to share here. But know that they left no stone unturned, as the report’s 108 pages confirms.
I’m happy to share that Confederate grave markers and museums are currently exempt from the renaming/removal process — at least for now. As with anything the government is involved in, though, the cost will surely grow much higher in dollars and history lost.
