The renaming continues: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been reversing the renaming of some significant military installations. Sort of. In February, he changed the name of “Fort Liberty,” North Carolina, back to Fort Bragg. Now he’s changed the name of “Fort Moore,” Georgia, back to Fort Benning.
There’s a catch: It’s not the same Benning. The post has been renamed, not after Confederate General Henry Benning, but after a Great War Army veteran, Corporal Fred Benning.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum today directing Fort Moore, Georgia, to be renamed Fort Benning.
The installation will now be renamed in honor of Army Cpl. Fred G. Benning, who “served with extraordinary heroism during World War I with the United States Army, and in recognition of the installation’s storied history of service to the United States of America,” the memo reads.
Originally established and named Camp Benning in October 1918 after Civil War-era Confederate Gen. Henry L. Benning, the installation kept Benning’s name until being renamed Fort Moore — after Army Lt. Gen Hal Moore and his wife, Julia Compton Moore — in May 2023.
SecDef did the same thing in renaming Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg, as my friend and fellow Infantry vet, streiff, noted:
See Related: Pete Hegseth Bringing Back Fort Bragg Still Gives the Left a Major Win
Streiff writes:
On the one hand, I applaud the effort by Hegseth to undo the immense damage done to our Armed Forces by Lloyd Austin and the race-baiters and nincompoops he selected to lead the Defense Department. On the other hand, it was too cute by half.
BREAKING: Fort Bragg is officially back!! @SecDef @PeteHegseth signed a memorandum on Monday directing the renaming of Fort Liberty to Fort Roland L. Bragg.
From DOD: “The new name honors the heroic service of Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II veteran awarded the Silver… pic.twitter.com/sOyyAUViNJ
— Kristina Wong 🇺🇸 (@kristina_wong) February 11, 2025
There are a couple of angles to consider here.
On the one hand, on the surface, this is mildly amusing, in an “I see what you did there” kind of way. Pete Hegseth is restoring the proud old names of those posts while forestalling the finger-pointing and shrieking by the left: “OMG RACISM SLAVERY ARGLE BARGLE!” We can almost see the knowing wink in Mr. Hegseth’s eye as he signs this order.
On the other hand, as streiff points out, it’s just a little too clever. The exercise would have been more effective if he had restored the original names in full and ignored the whining. That’s indisputable. But this also could have launched a renaming war, in which major Army posts were renamed with each new presidential administration, which has the potential to get ridiculous very quickly.
I would have preferred to see the original names restored in full. But the left’s anger doesn’t have a place to perch now; these two posts have been renamed, technically, to honor two Army heroes, one from the Great War, another from World War 2. That slams the door shut on this issue. And, candidly, SecDef has a lot on his plate.
See Related: ‘100% Operational Control’: Hegseth Ordering 3K Troops, Stryker Combat Vehicles to US-Mexico Border
Stamping out political correctness and woke horse squeeze in the military is an essential exercise, and any such fixes have to be permanent — or as near as we can make them. The way Pete Hegseth chose to divide the baby here is distasteful to many (like me), but it’s done, and now he can get on with more important work.
And, yes, there will be some expressions of frustration among the woke left. And that is chuckle-inducing, regardless of the source of their unsettlement.
