Thousands of ‘renaming’ nominations received

More than 34,000 nominations were received by the 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Dec. 1 deadline to submit names to the Department of Defense Commission evaluating the renaming of nine military installations named for Confederate leaders.

Now the submissions will be reviewed by the commission and a written report presented to the House and Senate Armed Services Committee by Oct. 1, 2022.

Chaired by retired Navy Adm. Michelle Howard, the commission will present a report that includes a list of identified assets, the costs to remove or rename them and the criteria and methods developed to identify those assets, according to the commission website. Congress mandated incorporating “local sensitivities in the process and recommendations,” according to the naming website.

Other members, appointed by Congress, serving with Howard are retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, vice-chairman; retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick; Jerry Buchannan; retired Marine Corps Gen. Robert Neller; Lawrence Romo; Dr. Kori Schake; and United States Rep. Austin Scott from Georgia.

The Congressional commission reports to the House Armed Services Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee.

In the Wiregrass, Fort Rucker, named for Col. Edmund Rucker, a brigade commander in the Confederate Army during the Civil War—who was given the honorary title of “general”—is one of the bases.

The other bases named after Confederate officers being considered for renaming are Fort A.P. Hill, Va.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Gordon, Ga.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Lee, Va.; Fort Pickett, Va.; and Fort Polk, La. The Army’s Fort Belvoir in Virginia and two ships, the USNS Maury and the USS Chancellorsville are also being considered.

There are other military installations with names linked to the Confederacy, but the commission is empowered to make recommendations only for Department of Defense assets. This means the commission cannot consider new names for National Guard installations which fall under the operational control of their respective state governments.

The William “Mac” Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 created the eight-member commission to develop a plan for renaming the bases. Officially named the “Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense that Commemorate the Confederate States of America or Any Person Who Served Voluntarily with the Confederate States of America,” the commission is commonly called the “Naming Commission.”

“We are grateful to the thousands of Americans who participated in this historic process,” the commission posted on their website after the nomination deadline. “The names of our military installations should appropriately reflect the courage, values and sacrifices of our diverse military men and women, with consideration given to the local or regional significance of names and their potential to inspire and motivate our service members.”

The plan will be implemented by Jan. 1, 2024. “While we anticipate that renaming activities would take place around that time-frame, the role of the commission is strictly to provide recommendations, not execute activities on behalf of the Department of Defense,” according to the naming commission website.

Fort Rucker came into existence during the early months of World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The United States entered the war on Dec. 8, 1941, and on Dec. 15, 1941, Congress voted an appropriation of $10 billion for the defense of the United States and the mobilization of active military called for the creation of new training camps and military bases, including Camp Rucker, according to “The Origins of Fort Rucker,” written by the late Dale County Judge Val McGee.

The original name of the post was Ozark Triangular Division Camp, but before the camp was officially opened on May 1, 1942, the War Department named it Camp Rucker. Camp Rucker became Fort Rucker in 1955.

According to the naming commission website, duties of the commission include “assessing the cost of renaming or removing names, symbols, displays, monuments or paraphernalia that commemorate the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.”

The commission is also required to “develop procedures and criteria to assess whether an existing name, symbol, monument, display, or paraphernalia commemorates the Confederate States of America or person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America and to recommend procedures for renaming assets of the Department of Defense to prevent commemoration of the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.”

A plan to remove the “names, symbols, displays, monument or paraphernalia” is also required of the commission, according to the website. “Include in the plan procedures and criteria for collecting and incorporating local sensitivities associated with naming or renaming of assets of the Department of Defense.”

In addition, any “base, installation, street, building, facility, aircraft, ship, plane, weapon, equipment or any other property owned or controlled by the Department of Defense” also will be reviewed.