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Fort Benning Returns: Army Base Reverts to Original Name
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the U.S. Army’s infantry and armor training base in Columbus, Georgia, will once again be known as Fort Benning. This reverses a Biden-era renaming of the installation to Fort Moore.
While the base reclaims its original name, it will honor a different Benning. Instead of the Confederate General Henry L.
Benning, the installation will now commemorate Cpl. Fred G.
Benning, a World War I hero awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in France in 1918.
This decision is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to undo changes made to military base names during the Biden administration. Those changes, prompted by the 2020 George Floyd protests, sought to remove the names of Confederate figures from military installations.
Earlier this year, Fort Bragg in North Carolina was also reinstated, honoring WWII hero Pfc. Roland L.
Bragg instead of the Confederate general.
Hegseth emphasized that the renaming of Fort Benning underscores the installation’s rich history and honors the soldiers who have trained there. He also directed the Army to find a suitable way to honor the legacy of Lt.
Gen. Hal Moore and his wife, Julia, the former namesakes of the base.
Lt. Gen.
Moore was a decorated Vietnam War veteran, and Julia Moore played a crucial role in changing how the military notifies families of casualties.