The Pentagon is taking steps to rename a South Carolina military base after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, according to an internal Air Force memo obtained by NOTUS.
Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink wrote a letter July 27 that ordered staff to begin work with Air Mobility Command and Joint Base Charleston leadership to begin converting the name to Joint Base Lindsey Graham.
“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,” Meink wrote in the letter. “His steadfast advocacy was instrumental in modernizing our military infrastructure and enhancing aviation security, ensuring that Joint Base Charleston remains as one of America’s premier military installations.”
The memo was first reported by South Carolina newspaper The Post and Courier and amplified by the White House on social media.
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Graham served 33 years in the Air Force after he graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1981. He served six years in active duty before transferring to the South Carolina Air National Guard in 1989. Graham was first elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1992 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994. He became a U.S. senator in 2002, where he served until his death earlier this month.
While in office, Graham served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, who oversaw U.S. military operations in the region in the late 2000s, commended Graham for his service.
“I am not aware of any other current Member of Congress who, while in office, spent remotely as much time deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those of us who were privileged to serve with Colonel Graham remain grateful to him for the contributions he made to our nation while in uniform,” Petraeus said in a 2015 Graham campaign press release.
The same day the internal memo was revealed, hundreds gathered at Washington National Cathedral to honor Graham and his public service.
The senator’s death was announced by his office on July 12. He had died the previous day of an “Aortic Dissection due to Arteriosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease,” according to preliminary findings by the D.C. Medical Examiner’s office.
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