This Week: Border Security, Base Renaming, Good Get for West Point, All Indicators of Thriving DOD

View Online This Week: Border Security, Base Renaming, Good Get for West Point, All Indicators of Thriving DOD March 7, 2025 | By Defense.gov In North Carolina today, Fort Liberty was redesignated as Fort Bragg. That change follows a memorandum from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed in February. This week, the secretary signed a similar memorandum, which directs the redesignation of Fort Moore, Georgia, to Fort Benning.  That installation will be named in honor of Army Cpl. Fred G. Benning, who served during World War I.  "Cpl. Benning was the living embodiment of the Infantryman's Creed, as he never failed his country's trust and fought to the objective to triumph for his unit and his country," Hegseth wrote in Monday's memorandum, adding that the directive to rename the installation after Benning "recognizes the heroes who have trained for decades at the installation" and "honors the warfighter ethos."  The secretary specified no date for the name change, but it took the Army just 25 days to comply with Hegseth's Feb. 10, 2025, memorandum directing the renaming of Fort Liberty.  "Benning is back," said Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell during a weekly update video posted today to social media and DVIDS.  Parnell also discussed this week's visit by the defense secretary to the U.S. southern border.  "The secretary joined Vice President JD Vance, along with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, at the southwest border," Parnell said.  Following his visit to the border, Hegseth noted an approximately 98% drop in illegal border crossings since the new administration took office; "the deterrent effect is there" when it comes to border security, he said.  "President Trump gave us a charge: 100% operational control of the southern border. Border security is national security," Hegseth said. He added that DOD plays a part in enforcing the new border policy, which differs from the previous border policies. "We're sending those home, and we're not letting more in," he said.  Another big win this week, for both a young man from California and the U.S. military, happened March 4, 2025, in the U.S. Capitol during the president's first address to a joint session of Congress this year.  "The president surprised Jason Hartley with a moment of a lifetime," Parnell said. "His application to West Point has officially been accepted."  Hartley and his mother attended the president's speech as guests. His acceptance into the United States Military Academy at West Point is the culmination of years of dedication, a testament to his grit, and a tribute to the family legacy of service that shaped his path.  "I'm still processing it," Hartley said during an interview the following day. "I've wanted this for so long, and to hear it from the president, in front of Congress – it's unreal. I'm just so grateful."  Hartley's father was an Army veteran who later served as a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy. He died in August 2018, a loss that only deepened the young man's resolve to honor his family's military legacy.  "My dad had a huge impact on me wanting to join the Army," Hartley said. "He enlisted after high school in 2002 and got medically discharged in 2008. He didn't talk much about his service – he was quiet about it – but I could see how much he loved his country."  Upon graduating from one of the most prestigious schools in the nation, Hartley will emerge as an Army officer and be ready to serve the nation as his father once did.

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