Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said military officials are looking for ways to honor the individuals whose names are being removed from Army bases as they return to their old designations, but rejected the idea of slowing or stopping the renaming process.
“The orders will soon be going to those bases to change back to the original names that never should have been changed,” he told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.
“Veterans and servicemembers across the country who have deployed from Fort Bragg or Fort Bend or Fort Hood or Fort Pickett, there’s a legacy. There’s a connection to those bases and to those places, to what they trained for there and what they did when they came home. That matters to them.”
Last week, President Donald Trump announced plans to revert the designations of seven Army installations previously named for Confederate soldiers. He previously ordered the renaming of North Carolina’s Fort Liberty to its old name, Fort Bragg, in February.
Despite the presidential announcement last week, several of the changed base names were mentioned during the Army’s 250th anniversary parade in Washington, D.C. last weekend, because renaming ceremonies have not yet taken place.
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Service officials have emphasized that the reverted names will no longer commemorate their original Confederate namesakes, but instead other Army alumni with similar names.
For example, Fort Hood in Texas, originally named for Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood, will now instead honor Distinguished Service Cross recipient Col. Robert B. Hood, who served during World War I.
The moves undo decisions by Congress and President Joe Biden’s administration to remove any connection to the Confederacy from current military bases. Lawmakers approved base name changes as part of the annual defense authorization bill process, noting the divisive nature of the association with the Confederacy.
But Trump — and Hegseth on Wednesday — have argued that the names are sacred to troops and their families, and returning to the better-known names will boost military morale.
Democrats on the panel rejected that argument.
“I don’t understand what the motivation is to rename bases for people who took arms against their country on behalf of slavery,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine. “What possible motivation can there be for this?”
Several lawmakers suggested the move was an insult to the individuals for whom the bases were renamed, a group that includes Medal of Honor recipients and military trail blazers. Hegseth insisted the decision is not a reflection of their contributions and service.
“We’ll find ways to recognize them,” he said, without providing further specifics.
Army officials are expected to hold formal renaming ceremonies for the affected bases later this year.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
