No plans to rename US bases named after Confederate officers

The Pentagon said Wednesday that there is currently “no discussion” on renaming U.S. military bases that honor Confederate officers.  

“As of now, there’s no discussion of adjusting our current naming policies,” said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. 

{mosads}In the wake of a mass shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C., some lawmakers and government officials are calling for Confederate flags and other symbols to be removed from government properties.  

In addition, some retailers have said they would stop selling merchandise emblazoned with the Confederate flag. 

Those calls have raised questions over whether the Army should rename several of its military installations named after Confederate generals and a colonel. 

Those installations include some of the most well known Army installations: Fort Benning in Georgia, Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Hood in Texas.  

Warren said the naming of military installations is up to the individual services. 

“The services are ultimately responsible for naming their own military installations, and as of now, there are no current plans to change policies regarding how installations are named.” 

The Army issued a statement later on Wednesday that explaining the use of the names, but did not indicate whether any changes would be coming.

“Every Army installation is named for a soldier who holds a place in our military history,” said Army Chief of Public Affairs Brig. Gen. Malcolm B. Frost.

“Accordingly, these historic names represent individuals, not causes or ideologies. It should be noted that the naming occurred in the spirit of reconciliation, not division,” he said.

— This story was updated at 4:41 p.m.