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The Pentagon has moved to rename Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, an Air Force veteran who died this month, timing the announcement to the day of his funeral.
Getting into it: First reported by The Post and Courier, the move came in a July 27 memo from Air Force Secretary Troy Meink ordering staff to begin working with Air Mobility Command and base leadership to rename the installation Joint Base Lindsey Graham. The change, Meink wrote, “honors Senator Graham’s decades of distinguished service to the United States Congress and the United States Air Force,” crediting his advocacy with modernizing the base’s infrastructure. “Senator Graham’s lifelong devotion to the military was shaped by his own military service and his public service in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives,” he added.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to confirm the move on X, though the Pentagon press office directed questions to the Air Force.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican, died July 11 at age 71 from an aortic dissection, and was honored Tuesday at a Capitol memorial and a larger service at Washington National Cathedral where Trump gave remarks. He spent 33 years in the Air Force and deployed twice to the Middle East before retiring in 2015. He was one of Joint Base Charleston’s most consistent backers in Washington, steering hundreds of millions of dollars its way over the years. The base is home to the nation’s largest fleet of C-17 cargo jets and more than 50 military commands.
State Attorney General Alan Wilson, the Republican nominee for governor, said the announcement was a “fitting tribute to a man who dedicated his life to serving our nation and state.” He added, “His legacy will live on for generations.”
Charleston Democratic state Sen. Ed Sutton, an Air Force veteran, called Graham “a tremendous advocate for South Carolina’s military community” who deserved recognition, but said renaming the base without local input was “the wrong approach.”
