US Army and Defense Secretary are ‘open’ to renaming military bases bearing Confederate general names including Forts Bragg, Lee and Hood in wake of George Floyd protests
- US Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper are now ‘open’ to the idea of renaming several Army bases
- The bases that could be renamed were named after Confederate soldiers
- There are at least 10 Army bases, all in the South, bearing names of Confederate soldiers, including Fort Bragg, Fort Hood and Fort Lee
- The decision would follow a bi-partisan discussion and not be a unilateral move
US Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper are now ‘open’ to the idea of renaming several Army bases which were named after prominent Confederate generals.
The willingness to entertain the notion of renaming the bases comes in the wake of nearly two weeks of George Floyd protests around the country and is a reversal of the Army’s previous position on the idea.
It also follows the US Marine Corps June 5 announcement that it will ban Confederate flag iconography from being displayed in its facilities.
US Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy (left) and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (right) are ‘open’ to the idea of renaming military bases named after prominent Confederate generals
There are at least 10 Army bases and installations which are named after prominent Confederate soldiers including North Carolina’s Fort Bragg, named for Braxton Bragg
‘The Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Army are open to a bi-partisan discussion on the topic,’ Army spokesperson Col. Sunset Belinsky said in a statement Monday, obtained by Politico.
McCarthy is not planning to change the base names unilaterally, a senior Army official told Fox News Monday.
The Floyd protests are said to be providing an incentive to entertain the notion of renaming the bases.
The protests ‘made us start looking more at ourselves and the things that we do and how that is communicated to the force as well as the American public,’ an Army official told Politico.
Previously, the Army had been reluctant to rename the bases, despite accusations that keeping bases named after Confederate generals has a hand in celebrating slave owners and white supremacy.
The Army had said in February that it did not plan to rename any of its bases that bore the names of Confederate generals, due to tradition. It had previously refused calls to rename streets in installations that were also named for prominent Confederate soldiers.
Another Army base that could be renamed is Fort Benning, named after Henry L. Benning
Texas’ Fort Hood – named after General John Bell Hood – could also be given a new name
An Army official told Fox News Monday that ‘We must recognize history is important, but we must come together and have some sort of open discussion about race’ and said that ‘This week highlighted the need to start understanding those feelings.’
There are currently at least 10 Army installations named after Confederate military figures, all of which are located in Southern states.
Up for potential renamed would be North Carolina’s Fort Bragg, named for Braxton Bragg; Georgia’s Forts Benning and Gordon, named after Henry L. Benning and John Brown Gordon; Virgnia’s Forts Pickett, A.P. Hill and Lee, named after George Pickett, AP Hill and Robert E. Lee; Louisana’s Fort Polk and Camp Beauregard, named for Leonidas Polk and Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard; Texas’ Fort Hood, named for John Bell Hood and Alabama’s Fort Rucker, named after Edmund Rucker.
The Army’s about-face on the concept of renaming the bases comes just a handful of days after McCarthy put his name on a letter addressed to soldiers, their families and civilians who work with the Army.
The June 3 letter stated: ‘Over the past week, the country has suffered an explosion of frustration over the racial divisions that still plague us as Americans. And because your Army is a reflection of American society, those divisions live in the Army as well.
‘We feel the frustration and anger. … We feel it, even though we can never fully understand the frustration and life experiences of people of color, in or out of uniform.’
It also noted, ‘We need to work harder to earn the trust of mothers and fathers who hesitate to hand their sons and daughters into our care. How we respond to the anger that has ignited will chart the course of that trust.’
The letter was also signed by Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. James McConville and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston.
Secretary of the Army Ryan D. McCarthy signed his name to this letter sent to soldiers, their families and civilians who work with the Army last week