Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth referred to a pair of U.S. military installations by their previous \u201cnon-woke\u201d names during comments on Monday as he began implementing his commander-in-chief\u2019s policies aimed at stripping \u201cdiversity, inclusion, and equity\u201d (DEI) programs from the Pentagon to focus on warfighting.<\/p>\n
In 2021, in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, an eight-person Naming Commission issued a report recommending \u201cnew names for nine military bases,\u201d as well as \u201cthe disposition of all Confederacy-affiliated and named Department of Defense assets on those bases.\u201d<\/p>\n
As such, historic bases such as Fort Bragg became Fort Liberty, while another \u2014 Fort Benning, home to the U.S. Army\u2019s jump school \u2014 became Fort Moore. Both previous names came from generals who fought for the Confederacy.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Pentagon press on Monday, Hegseth used the old names.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery moment that I\u2019m here, I\u2019m thinking about the guys and gals in Guam, in Germany, in Fort Benning, in Fort Bragg,\u201d Hegseth said in a clip posted to the X platform.<\/p>\n
Those remarks came only second after Hegseth said President Donald Trump\u2019s executive orders aimed at eliminating DEI and \u201cwokeness\u201d from the military would immediately be implemented. \u201cAnd today, there are more executive orders coming that we fully support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n