Witness history. You have options for how to watch the Fort Benning renaming ceremony
You can witness history next week as the public is invited to watch the ceremony changing the name of the U.S. Army post adjacent to Columbus from Fort Benning to Fort Moore.
The ceremony is scheduled to start at 9 a.m., May 11, in Doughboy Stadium. In the instructions the Army has announced, folks have two options to watch: in person or via livestream.
How to get a pass to visit Fort Benning/Fort Moore
To attend in person, ages 18 and older should register in advance on this website pass.aie.army.mil/steps/special_event_pass/event_detail for access to the installation. Or click on this QR code:
Only U.S. citizens may request a visitor’s pass online. Doing so submits the applicants to a background check.
Applicants will receive an SMS text message or email within 24 hours to notify them whether their request is approved.
Passes may be picked up at the post’s Visitor Control Center kiosk on I-185 anytime or the Contractor Visitor Control Center kiosk on 8th Division Road at Harmony Church on Mondays-Fridays from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Visitors must bring proof of identification to complete the registration.
The Army recommends visitors should be seated in the stadium by 8:30 a.m. Visitors and their bags are subject to search or screening.
Parking at Fort Benning/Fort Moore for renaming ceremony
Traffic movement around the stadium will be restricted in some areas, so carpooling is encouraged. Public parking will be available at the following areas:
Lot northeast of the Sigerfoos Road and Vibbert Avenue intersection
Open field across from Riverside, 100 Vibbert Avenue
Hall Street in front of the post office, 110 Vibbert Avenue
Hall Street in front of Briant Wells Fieldhouse, Building 933
Lot next to 6861 Wold Avenue
Stillwell Field between Gillespie and Hall Streets, across from the post office
Lot east of 35 Ridgway Loop, Building 35
How to watch Fort Benning/Fort Moore renaming ceremony via livestream
If you don’t want to attend the ceremony in person, you can watch it via livestream at the National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center, 1775 Legacy Way, in Columbus.
Admission to the museum is free.
Also in the museum that day, at 1 p.m., a ribbon-cutting ceremony will open an exhibit about Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and his wife, Julie. Both are buried in the post’s cemetery after decades of service to Army soldiers and their families.
Fort Benning was established in 1918 as Camp Benning, named after Henry Lewis Benning, a Confederate general during the Civil War.
The 2021 Defense Authorization Act included a Congressional mandate to eliminate such tributes to leaders of the Confederacy.
In May 2022, the Naming Commission selected Fort Moore as the post’s new name from a list of 87 finalists.
