the Naming Commission identified in 2022 how to rename three US Army bases in VirginiaSource: Naming Commission, Department of Defense, Final Report to Congress, Part 1
the Naming Commission identified in 2022 how to rename three US Army bases in Virginia
Source: Naming Commission, Department of Defense, Final Report to Congress, Part 1
In 2020, the US Congress directed the Defense Department to examine Confederacy-affiliated assets and consider renaming them. That requirement was included in the annual defense authorization bill. President Donald Trump vetoed the bill, largely over the renaming issue. At the end of December, 2020, the US Congress overrode a presidential veto for the first time since 2016.
Part 1 of the Naming Commission Final Report recommended renaming Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Lee and Fort Pickett in Virginia, and exploring if Fort Belvoir should be renamed:1
At the time, 100% of the US Army bases were named after white males. The Naming Commission recognized that did not reflect the current demographics of the U.S. population or the U.S. Army's active duty force.
The Naming Commission invited public comment on multiple alternatives for each of the three Army bases in Virginia that honored Confederate officers. Among the criteria for choosing a new name were:2
The Naming Commission recommended renaming Fort A. P. Hill to honor Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. Fort A. P. Hill had been established in 1941, at a time when the need for national unity was clear in anticipation of World War II. Federal officials deferred at the time to Virginia officials, who named the fort after a Confederate general. The Naming Commission considered 12 alternatives before choosing to commemorate Dr. Walker. Cost of the renaming was estimated at $2 million.
Fort Lee, which was established in 1917, honored General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia from 1862-65. The Naming Commission recommended naming it after two people, LTG Arthur J. Gregg and LTC Charity Adams. Both are African-Americans.
Charity Adams was responsible for the postal unit in England that delivered mail to and from the soldiers in Europe during World War II, processing 200,000 letters per day to maintain morale both at home and on the front. She was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, which was the highest rank available for a woman at the time except for the colonel who was the Women’s Army Corps director.
Arthur Gregg enlisted in 1945, and was commissioned an officer after the armed forces were desegregated in 1948. Though President Truman issued the desegregation order, leaders such as Gregg put the order into effect. He personally desegregated the Fort Lee Officers Club in the 1950's. The Army's award for logistics innovation and excellence is named after Lieutenant General Arthur J. Gregg.
Cost for converting Fort Lee into Fort Gregg-Adams were estimated at $2.4 million.3
Fort Pickett originally honored Confederate General George Pickett. His charge at Gettysburg in 1863 had failed, and by the end of the Civil War Robert E. Lee avoided relying upon him. Supposedly, Robert E. Lee was surprised to see Pickett in the surrender ceremony at Appomattox, and asked an aide:5
The originally estimated cost for changing all the Confederacy-related signs at nine military bases across the United States by the end of 2023 rose from $21 million to $39 million.6
Fort Pickett was renamed Fort Barfoot on March 24, 2023.
the Virginia National Guard no longer trains at a facility named after a Confederate general
Source: Virginia National Guard, Fort Barfoot
Fort Lee in Prince George County was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams on April 27, 2023. The name change for the fort where 70,000 US Army personnel train annually honored Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams.
Adams was the first black woman commissioned into the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. She commanded the "Six Triple Eight" unit in Europe starting in 1944. Under her leadership, that all-female, predominantly black postal battalion cleared a backlog of undelivered mail and processed 17 million pieces of mail in less than a year. Adams was promoted to lieutenant colonel in recognition of her success, and at the age of 27 became the highest ranked black woman in the US Army.
Charity Adams commanded the 6888th (Six Triple Eight) Postal Battalion in World War II
Source: National Veterans Memorial and Museum, Pioneering Women: Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams Earley, U.S. Army
Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg became the first black three-star general in the US Army. He was the highest-ranking black officer when he retired in 1981, after a career in logistics. Until Fort Lee was renamed, no US military base ever had been named after someone who was still alive. Gregg attended the ceremony in person:7
banner of Fort A.P. Hill website on August 19, 2023
Source: US Army, Fort A.P. Hill
Fort A.P. Hill was renamed Fort Walker on August 25, 2023. Dr. Mary Edwards Walker became the first female US Army surgeon in 1863, after her offer to serve had been rejected twice, when the Union Army needed more medical capacity during the Civil War. She was captured by Confederate troops on April 10, 1864, and initially was classified as a spy and imprisoned at Castle Thunder in Richmond before being exchanged on August 10. She was proud to have been exchanged for a person with the rank of major in the Confederate army, saying it was a "man for man" deal.
Dr. Walker was denied a military service pension after the Civil War because she had not been formally commissioned as an officer. Perhaps in consideration of that denial, President Andrew Johnson awarded her the Medal of Honor.
Her independent style and feminist beliefs were expressed clearly in her clothing choices. She wore trousers her entire adult life, even at her wedding when she married a fellow medical student, Albert Miller, in 1856. She chose not to say "to obey" in the marriage ceremony, and afterwards retained her own name.
In 1917, her Medal of Honor was revoked as the military reassessed eligibility. Many awards were revoked at that time, as the prestige of the Medal of Honor was raised. Dr. Walker did not qualify because she was a civilian who had been designated only as "acting assistant surgeon" after being exchanged in 1864.
She refused to return the medal and continued to wear it until she died two years later. President Jimmy Carter reinstated her Medal of Honor award in 1977, and Dr. Walker remains the only female to have earned it.8
Dr. Walker was the first - and so far only - female recipient of the Medal of Honor
Source: Holloman Air Force Base, Mary Edwards Walker - a woman ahead of her time and National Women's History Museum, Mary Edwards Walker
LTC Charity Adams ensured soldiers got their mail in Europe
Source: National Archives, Photograph of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in France
Dr. Walker wore trousers throughout her life, defying fashion in exchange for comfort
Source: Library of Congress, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker and Mary E. Walker