The Department of Defense is seeking the public’s help in coming up with replacement names for the military bases currently named after Confederate leaders.
The naming commission, which was created earlier this year to look into the topic, launched a new website on Monday, asking for “interested citizens” to provide recommendations and suggestions for alternatives.
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This eight-person commission is assessing renaming nine Army posts, including Fort Bragg, Fort Hood, and Fort Lee. They are still deliberating whether they should also change the name of the Army’s Fort Belvoir in Virginia, a name that came from a former slave plantation, and two Navy ships.
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, which is led by Adm. Michelle Howard of the U.S. Navy, has to provide the House and Senate Armed Services Committees a report listing the identified assets and the cost to rename them by Oct. 1, 2022.
The commission was created through the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2021.
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Former President Donald Trump and his administration opposed renaming the military bases, though the plan had overwhelming support on Capitol Hill. The discrepancy put Trump in line with the position of many rank-and-file Republicans, though polling suggests there has been a shift on the issue.
The promotion of Confederate icons has become a hot-button issue in recent months as activists vandalized various statutes dedicated to leaders of the South.
