Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, became Joint Base Lindsey Graham during a ceremony today to rename the installation after the late senator, Air Force veteran and South Carolina native son.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth joined South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster and Senator Darline Graham to dedicate the 32-square-mile installation, home to the 437th Airlift Wing, which provides global airlift capability to the joint force with the C-17A Globemaster III aircraft.
Lindsey Graham served as a U.S. senator from South Carolina from January 2003 until his passing July 11. He also served as a lawyer and commissioned officer in the Air Force's judge advocate general corps, first on active duty from 1982 until 1988, then as a member of the South Carolina Air National Guard until 1995 and then in the Air Force Reserve until 2015.
"Sen. Lindsey Graham dedicated his life to serving this state and serving the armed forces of the United States," Hegseth said. "He served this nation both in uniform and in both houses of Congress. ... But in both capacities, it was always the same mission. He knew the timeless truth that to ensure peace, we must be prepared for war. Protect your people, protect your state, protect your sovereignty, or you will lose it to someone else who is willing to take it from you."
Hegseth said he first met Graham as a young first lieutenant in the Army. Hegseth had returned from Iraq and had aligned himself with a veterans group called "Vets for Freedom."
"[We] believed in the surge in Iraq and advocating for the troops on the ground," he said. "We were a young, scrappy veterans' organization with no money and no access and connections."
Only one senator, Graham, was willing to meet with Hegseth and other representatives of the group.
"He welcomed us into his conference room, sat us down as a bunch of lieutenants and [noncommissioned officers] and others around the table — fresh back from Iraq — who wanted the right strategy," Hegseth said. "He said, 'Gentlemen, welcome to a place where you can still say the word victory.' He believed in mission success; he believed in the troops; he believed in giving the troops everything they needed."
In later years, Hegseth said, he recalls having mentioned to Graham that he was now serving as an instructor at a counterinsurgency school in Kabul, Afghanistan.
"I had mentioned that we ... could give him an update on what the Taliban was up to," he said. "Sure enough, during his reserve duty, there he was — jet-lagged as all hell — because that man had a schedule like nobody else. But he was there to hear from us because he wanted his ear to the ground from the troops on what was actually happening in the war in Afghanistan."
Just weeks before the senator's passing, Hegseth said he met with Graham to discuss the War Department budget — the current request, $1.5 trillion — is the largest in U.S. history. The senator showed his commitment to troops there too.
"[He asked], 'Mr. Secretary, what do you need for reconciliation?'" Hegseth said.
Hegseth said he discussed with Graham that he thought the department needed $1.15 trillion in the base budget and $350 billion in reconciliation to get to the needed $1.5 trillion total budget.
"He looked at me and said, 'How's $355 billion sound to you?'" Hegseth said. "He wanted to give even more than $350 [billion]. He wanted to ensure our military was as equipped as humanly possible, because he was thinking of places like this one right here."
Graham, Hegseth said, knew what was needed to keep America safe.
"I saw firsthand as a young first lieutenant, as a captain in a combat zone and as a secretary, the unwavering commitment of Lindsey Graham," Hegseth said. "He knew that if you're going to seek peace, you have to be prepared for war. You have to have a prepared military. He talked the talk, and he walked the walk."
Darline Graham took on his role as senator following her brother's passing. She said he had been proud of his service in the Air Force.
"What an honor for my brother, and what a tribute to his 33 years of service," Graham said. "Lindsey loved the Air Force. He loved its mission. He loved wearing the uniform of his country. His interest in foreign affairs and national security started with his service in the Air Force."
Lindsey Graham initially served in state government as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Later, from 1995 to 2003, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing South Carolina's 2nd district. And finally, he served as a U.S. senator from South Carolina, beginning in 2003.
"It was sometimes hard to tell if Lindsey was a senator who happened to serve in the Air Force or an Air Force lawyer who happened to serve in the Senate," his sister said. "Such was his love for both. That's the man this base is named after — a man who loved his country, loved his state and loved the United States Air Force. I could not be more honored or humbled for him to be recognized in such a fashion for his lifetime of service."
Following the renaming of the installation, Hegseth met with airmen assigned to the 437th Airlift Wing as well as other troops on the installation who had been involved with Operation Epic Fury, the mission to destroy Iranian offensive missiles and missile production, as well as the Iranian navy and other security infrastructure.
While meeting with airmen, the secretary discussed the importance of logistics. He commended them on their improving logistics capabilities and how their unit is contributing to the modernization of the U.S. military.
"Look at what the 437th is doing as the premier maneuver force for the C-17A modernization: leading operational testing for things like palletized munitions, drastically increasing our airborne munitions capacity in future conflicts," he said. "I've been watching. I read the reports of how you iterate, do things faster, in congested logistics. It's incredible, the backbone of what you have enabled in the theater."
Logistics, said Hegseth, is how wars are won, adding that it's airmen at Joint Base Lindsey Graham who are making that happen.
"The secret sauce of any successful mission — whether it's Epic Fury, Southern Spear, Midnight Hammer, Absolute Resolve, Hawkeye Strike, you name it — are the logistics behind it," he said. "That's the genius of the United States military."
The secretary said it's the strategic lift, the U.S. Transportation Command, logistics, how the U.S. moves things, people, munitions and capabilities that make a difference.
"No one else can touch it, not even close," Hegseth said, adding that, "All of it is enabled by all of you, incredible Americans at the top of your top of your game, at the prime of your life ... I consider all of you the real 1%, the real elite who give absolutely everything."
