Pentagon begins work to strip DOD of Confederate-linked names and items, rename 9 Army posts
The Pentagon on Thursday instructed all Defense Department organizations to begin working to remove names and items associated with the Confederacy as recommended last year by a congressional commission.
William LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, gave the order, allowing officials to begin removing or renaming Confederate-linked items and properties across the department. The order comes some three months after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signed off on all the recommendations provided by the Congress-mandated Naming Commission in three reports released last year.
The Pentagon has until Jan. 1, 2024, to carry out those recommendations, which include renaming two Navy ships and nine Army installations in southern states.