Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin agrees with all of the recommendations from the Naming Commission tasked with removing Confederacy-related names from military bases, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, announced on Thursday.
Ryder said the commission had provided its report to the secretary, who “has concurred with all of the Naming Commission’s recommendations and is committed to implementing them as soon as possible.” Austin sent a memo on Thursday directing all defense leaders and the services “to begin implementation immediately following” the 90-day waiting period as instructed by the National Defense Authorization Act, he added.
FORT BRAGG, FORT HOOD, AND FORT LEE AMONG THE BASES A COMMISSION WANTS TO RENAME
“I concur with all of the Naming Commission’s recommendations, including the renaming plan. In the words of Admiral Michelle M. Howard, the Naming Commission’s chair, the commission’s goal was to inspire Service members and military communities ‘with names or values that have meaning,'” Austin wrote in his memo. “The Department’s implementation of the Commission’s recommendations will do just that — and will give proud new names that are rooted in their local communities and that honor American heroes whose valor, courage, and patriotism exemplify the very best of the United States military.”
The Naming Commission disbanded at the end of the fiscal year, though its findings, which were released in three separate reports, found that all of its recommendations would cost roughly $62.4 million, according to retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, who was the vice chairman of the commission.
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The panel recommended new names for nine Army bases that commemorate Confederate officers, including Fort Bragg in North Carolina; Fort Benning and Fort Gordon in Georgia; Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Lee, and Fort Pickett in Virginia; and Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Polk in Louisiana, and Fort Rucker in Alabama. The group also recommended suggestions for how to rename these bases, and many of its suggestions honor heroic service members. It received more than 34,000 suggestions from the public related to its mandate, including 3,670 unique names.
It also recommended dismantling and removing the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
