Joint Base Charleston to Be Renamed in Honor of Lindsey Graham, Pentagon Says

The late senator from South Carolina served in the U.S. military for 33 years and helped secure major funding for the base.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) addressing Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command employees during a visit to Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina. Department of Defense/Glenn Fawcett

The Pentagon is moving to rename Joint Base Charleston after former South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died earlier this month.

Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink directed Air Force staff to coordinate with Air Mobility Command and Joint Base Charleston to take steps to rename the base in a July 27 memorandum shared with The Epoch Times. He said the base would be renamed to Joint Base Lindsey Graham.

Joint Base Charleston houses multiple units, including the 628th Air Base Wing, the 437th Airlift Wing, and the reserve 315th Airlift Wing. The base has a total force of more than 90,000 airmen, soldiers, sailors, marines, guardsmen, civilians, dependents, and retirees at its four installations.

Graham died from a sudden illness on the evening of July 11 at the age of 71. Preliminary medical findings suggested that he died from an aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Graham’s funeral was held on July 28 at the Washington National Cathedral. The late senator was also laid in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda before the funeral service.

“It is fitting that the Department of the Air Force pay tribute to the late United States Senator Lindsey O. Graham,” Meink wrote on July 27. “This honors Senator Graham’s decades of distinguished service to the United States Congress and the United States Air Force.”

Graham served in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and in the Senate from 2003 until his death. He also served for 33 years in the Air Force, the South Carolina Air National Guard, and the Air Force Reserves. Graham retired from the Air Force Reserves at the rank of colonel in June 2015.

Graham, who was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, also helped secure $212 million in Coast Guard funding for improvements at Joint Base Charleston in May.

In the July 27 memorandum, Meink said Graham’s advocacy efforts were “instrumental in modernizing our military infrastructure and enhancing aviation security, ensuring that Joint Base Charleston remains as one of America’s premier military installations.”

Meink said Graham helped the Charleston region become one of the top aerospace centers in the United States. Graham also played a key role in Boeing’s establishment of the 787 Dreamliner production site in South Carolina, which Meink said changed South Carolina’s economy.

“This unprecedented synergy did not happen by accident; it is the direct result of Senator Graham’s persistence and decades of leadership,” Meink said in the memorandum.

“Naming the installation and the shared airfield in his honor would memorialize his legacy as a statesman who united military service, aerospace innovation, economic development, and commercial aviation.”

Meink directed the assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs and the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment, and energy to take any necessary actions to implement the base name change in coordination with Air Mobility Command and Joint Base Charleston leadership.

The Air Force secretary said that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s office would be informed of the plans, timelines, and resource requirements regarding the base name change.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the name change plan in a social media post on July 28.

In a July 28 X post, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said, “Senator Graham spent years fighting for this base. There’s no more fitting tribute than putting his name on the base he spent a career fighting for.”

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is running for governor in the state’s Republican primary, also called the renaming of Joint Base Charleston a “fitting tribute” to the late senator.

“From his service in the Air Force to his years in Congress and the U.S. Senate, Lindsey answered the call to serve with honor. His legacy will live on for generations,” he said.