Historian reacts to Trump’s push to rename army bases, including 3 in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — President Donald Trump's push to restore Confederate-linked names to several U.S. Army bases, including three in Virginia, is drawing national attention.

The U.S. Army has confirmed it will rename seven installations, originally named for Confederate soldiers but changed in 2023 under a federal mandate.

A 2020 law banned the use of Confederate names on military installations. The U.S. Army followed Congress’ orders and renamed the bases to honor more inclusive and historically distinguished figures.

Now, Trump’s announcement signals a reversal of that policy under a technical workaround.

"He is technically in compliance with the law -- but in regards to the spirit, he's not even anywhere close," said John Aughenbaugh, a political science professor with a background in history at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

While the names may appear to be returning to their original Confederate associations, the Army said these new namesakes will honor entirely different individuals -- a move Aughenbaugh said is a bit of a loophole.

"If anybody goes ahead and pushes back against this, the Trump administration can say, 'We're not honoring a Confederate general. We're honoring a distinguished Silver Cross recipient who also, by the way, shares the same last name',” Aughenbaugh said.

The U.S. Army says these new redesignations will honor soldiers who served in a range of conflicts, from the Civil War to the Battle of Mogadishu.

According to a U.S. Army press release, "five of them received the Medal of Honor, three received the Distinguished Service Cross and one received the Silver Star."

Army bases in Virginia include:

• Fort Barfoot in Nottoway County will return to being called Fort Pickett, in honor of 1st Lt. Vernon W. Pickett, a World War II hero and Distinguished Service Cross recipient. The original namesake was Confederate general George Edward Pickett.
• Fort Walker in Caroline County will revert to its original name, Fort A.P. Hill -- but this time, it will honor three Medal of Honor recipients: Lt. Col. Edward Hill, 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn and Pvt. Bruce Anderson. Its original namesake was Ambrose Powell Hill, Jr., a Confederate general.
• Fort Gregg-Adams in Prince George County will return to being called Fort Lee, but not for Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Instead, it will honor Private Fitz Lee, a Buffalo Soldier awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War.

"This could be viewed as very silly and a waste of time, but understand that so much in politics is symbolic," Aughenbaugh said.

No women are included in the new list.

The Army said it is moving quickly to implement the changes. For now, there is no current estimate for the financial cost of changing the signage, branding and records across the installations.