Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. Army to rename Fort Moore in Georgia back to Fort Benning on Monday, honoring Corporal Fred G. Benning, a World War I hero, in a move reversing a 2023 redesignation tied to racial justice efforts.
The directive, issued under Hegseth’s Title 10 authority, also nods to Lt. Gen. Harold “Hal” Moore and his wife Julia, preserving their legacy at the storied Army post near Columbus.
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CPL Benning, born in 1900 in Norfolk, Nebraska, enlisted in 1917 and served with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, earning the Distinguished Service Cross for valor in the 1918 Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
At 18, he took command of his battered company near Exermont, France, leading 20 survivors through brutal enemy fire to seize their objective—later retiring as Neligh’s mayor until his 1974 death.
“CPL Benning was the living embodiment of the Infantryman’s Creed,” Hegseth wrote, praising his “extraordinary heroism” as a fitting tribute to the base’s century-long mission.
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The renaming resets a 2023 shift from Fort Benning—originally honoring Confederate Gen. Henry L. Benning—to Fort Moore, celebrating Hal and Julia Moore’s Vietnam-era and family advocacy legacies.
Hegseth’s order sidesteps a congressional mandate tied to stripping Confederate names, redirecting the honor to a WWI soldier while directing the Army to still commemorate the Moores’ “significant contributions” locally.
“This honors the warfighter ethos and heroes who’ve trained here for decades,” Hegseth said.
Fort Benning, dubbed the Maneuver Center of Excellence, trains infantry, armor, and Rangers on its red clay ranges, a legacy since 1918—coincidentally Benning’s heroic year.
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The Army must now implement the switch, with Secretary Daniel Driscoll tasked to outline timelines and costs to the Pentagon’s Acquisition and Sustainment office.
Fort Benning’s name, tied to 120,000 personnel and a $4.75 billion regional jolt, is back.
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