Army Is Silent on Whether Posts Will Keep Confederate Names

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Fort Hood, Texas, is named after the Confederate general John Bell Hood, a graduate of West Point. The fort is one of 10 Army posts named after Confederate military leaders. (US Army photo)
Fort Hood, Texas, is named after the Confederate general John Bell Hood, a graduate of West Point. The fort is one of 10 Army posts named after Confederate military leaders. (US Army photo)

Debate is heating up throughout the country over what to do with Confederate statues and memorials. But it appears, at least for now, that 10 major U.S. Army installations will keep the names of Confederate soldiers.

The Army refused to answer questions last week on whether those posts -- including Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas, and Fort Benning in Georgia -- will keep their names, the Charlotte Observer reported.

All 10 Army posts named for Confederate military leaders are located in the South.

Prior to this month’s violence in Charlottesville, Va., the most recent time the names of Army posts were strongly debated was in 2015, after the slaying of nine black church members in Charleston, S.C.

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At that time, Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, told Time magazine there was "no discussion" in regard to changing the names.

Post names are based on "individuals, not causes or ideologies," public affairs chief Army Brig. Gen. Malcolm Frost said in 2015, adding that each base "is named for a soldier who holds a place in our military history."

The other seven Army posts named for Confederate military leaders are Fort Rucker in Alabama; Fort Gordon in Georgia; Camp Beauregard and Fort Polk in Louisiana; and Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Lee and Fort Pickett in Virginia.

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