Rename Our Army Installations

After the Civil War, there were 596,670 reasons why all US military posts should have been named after Union Generals & Heroes.

That was the number of Union killed & wounded.

At the time, Congressional Reconstruction & Reconciliation efforts were attempting to guarantee a post-Emancipation UNITED States of America. It was fragile. None of us were there, so flippant and uneducated "damn the traitors, full speed ahead" talk is ignorant, and scopes the issue of 1865 Reconstruction South without historical context. If they so desired, the Union could have named every post what they wanted then. Logically there was a larger benefit not to. The context would change in September 1940.

That context is the peace-time draft and ramp up before the Attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II. According to Professor D.K. "A lot of the bases were established and named as the Army ramped up for WWII, before Pearl Harbor when FDR still needed support in Congress. His electoral redoubt was the southern caucus. He let them do the base naming."

Obviously time & sentiments have changed in the ensuing 155 years. When the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed by LBJ, I was in kindergarden with my best buddy Danny. While we shared coke, imagination, and adventure as kids on a Cold War Base in Turkey, neither he nor I knew that his father and mother couldn't vote. Because they were black.

I can't imagine being in an organization that I serve my best for & offer my life to, even though it supports the country that won't let me vote. Could you? It's a testament to rock solid character of folks like Danny's parents.

For the Army, any change that supports & enhances capability is usually welcome. In the case of confederate named posts, that change will happen.

If you don't think the Army changes names, think again. It does it routinely.

Historically the Army has had thousands of units with different names, numbered designations, locations, and even different missions. Many have changed and then changed back. Been constituted, disbanded, and reconstituted. One of more recent example was the "Center of Excellence" tag every branch decided to use.

Fort Benning went from being called "Fort Benning-Home of the Infantry" to "The Maneuver Center of Excellence" when it combined with the Armor Center at Fort Knox Kentucky in 2010-2011. Was there griping and groaning? Yes. Mostly because the Armor Branch still thinks it's as cool and tough as the Infantry. But it got done.

So the argument about historical significance is a little thin on me, as I've witnessed the Army quickly and sometimes unceremoniously, strike and roll a unit's colors to change it's warfighting capability. After all, just because the Army uses the 1903 Springfield rifle when guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns, albeit for sentimental & historical purpose, that doesn't make it a good idea to keep it the standard issue weapon to Soldiers across the Army now.

To proudly reflect the reality that the Army has been the nations' leader in true, demonstrated, integrated, social change since Trumans Executive Order 9981 was issued on July 26, 1948, I see renaming of Army Posts as a good thing.

And I see it as a senior leadership responsibility requiring attention now.

This change would reflect finally accepting reality as it was then, and is now. I can't think of any nation that, when victorious, names its places after the vanquished. I do commend the respect with which the Union treated the Confederacy. The post names were a hat tip to that. Now change them. I've included Fort Andrew Jackson as a candidate for change though not named for the confederacy.

What I don't like to hear is the Virtue Signalling by retired Generals who in the past commanded at those posts. Now they've suddenly grown a set of nuts and say things on Twitter about how it needs to change. General, you should have said something about your moral objection before you took the command guidon, because now you sound like a two star hypocrite who wanted the rank & position and remained silent in order to take it.

I spent many of my 39 year Army career at several of the confederate officer named posts. I am particularly fond of Fort Benning & Fort Bragg. Those names associate with the best Soldiers I ever commanded, trained with, or served with. I can live with the change though, because the Army is a young organization, and history & lineage will imform those coming after us who will carry the rucksack and defend us. Just like we did when we were young and had arrived to serve.

As a prior enlisted Second Lieutenant & later Captain on Fort Benning & Fort Bragg, I can recall a discussion or two about the irony of the confederate named posts. That said, most Soldiers were too busy training to fight and win.

Mosty all of us are two colors:

Army Green, and the Red blood we bleed for each other and the American Citizens we gratefully serve.

So to acknowlege the victorious & heroic, I submit my proposed federal post name changes. You can look up each name on your own, and draw your own conclusions as to their importance to the Army, location, and to the fabric of the United States of America.

They are a pantheon of greatness:

Fort Gordon- Fort Benjamin O. Davis Sr. (PI, WWII)

Fort Benning- Fort George S. Patton (WWI, WWII)

Fort Bragg- Fort Matthew W. Ridgeway (WWII, ROK)

Fort Hood- Fort Creighton Abrams (WWII, VN)

Fort Lee- Fort William H. Carney (CW MOH)

Fort Pickett- Fort Teddy Roosevelt Jr. (WWI, WWII MOH)

Fort Polk-Fort Ruben Rivers (WWII MOH)

Fort Jackson- Fort Abraham Lincoln (CW POTUS)

Fort A.P. Hill- Fort Freddie Stowers (MOH WWI)

Fort Rucker-Fort Dwight D. Eisenhower (WWII, POTUS)

Fort Stewart- Fort Omar Bradley (WWI, WWII)