La. National Guard releases names under consideration for Camp Beauregard
The Louisiana National Guard released six names that are under consideration in renaming Camp Beauregard in Pineville.
The names are: Louisiana National Guard Training Center Pineville, Central Louisiana Training Center – Pineville, Camp Stroud, Louisiana Maneuvers Training Center, Camp Pineville and Post De Rapides.
In 2022 the LANG created a committee to redesignate its primary training center in Pineville and asked the citizens of Louisiana to participate by providing recommendations for potential names for the committee to review. These names were to reflect the values of the LANG, the state of Louisiana and the United States of America.
The committee, made up of military, local, and state officials, reviewed potential names and made six recommendations to the Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Keith Waddell.
Nominations were accepted online from May 1 through July 31 last year with additional nominations sent via United States mail and offered in-person at a September Town Hall meeting held last year at the Post Theater on Camp Beauregard.
The committee, made up of military, local, and state officials, reviewed potential names and made six recommendations to the Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Keith Waddell.
Camp Beauregard is named after Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard, a Confederate general from Louisiana.
At the September Town Hall, Col. Dirk D. Erickson, post commander at Camp Beauregard told the audience that the Naming Commission, a federal commission led by retired Adm. Michelle Howard mandated that all installations that had a "nexus to a Confederate general be renamed."
The federal commission recommended name changes for nine military bases, including Fort Polk, but did not recommend a name change for Camp Beauregard since it is owned by the Louisiana National Guard.
But even though they are not a federal installation, Erickson told the audience they are 75-80 percent federally funded.
"They have not made any threats that they would take our funding," Erickson said at the Town Hall. "They have not said that they would not do it, but we just don't know in this day and age."
To err on the side of caution, Erickson said, the Louisiana National Guard thinks it's prudent to make the shift so they can continue and be ready for state and federal missions.
Fort Polk, the U.S. Army base in Vernon Parish, will be renamed Fort Johnson in honor of Sgt. William Henry Johnson, a Black soldier who was the first hero of World War I. He was the first soldier to be awarded the French Croix de Guerre.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: La. National Guard releases names under consideration for Camp Beauregard
