WASHINGTON, D.C. — A congressional committee is reviewing 100 possible replacement names for nine military bases currently commemorating Confederate officers.

The nine bases currently named for Confederate generals are Fort Rucker, Alabama; Fort Benning and Fort Gordon in Georgia; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Polk, Louisiana; and Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Lee and Fort Pickett in Virginia.

According to the U.S. Army website, Fort Rucker is named for Civil War Confederate officer Col. Edmund W. Rucker, who became an industrial leader in Birmingham after the war. Fort Benning in Columbus is named after Confederate Gen. Henry Lewis-Benning, a former lawyer and Georgia Supreme Court justice. Confederate Lt. Gen. John Brown Gordon, a rumored KKK leader, has had the namesake of Fort Gordon for more than 80 years.

The congressional Naming Commission is expected to provide name recommendations to the House Armed Services Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee by Oct. 1. During listening sessions and a public comment period via its website last year, the commission received more than 34,000 submissions for renaming, which included 3,670 unique names. 

The commission announced March 17 that 100 possible names are being considered after careful review and deliberation. 

“It’s important that the names we recommend for these installations appropriately reflect the courage, values and sacrifices of our diverse military men and women,” said retired Navy Adm. Michelle Howard, the chair of the Naming Commission. “We also are considering the local and regional significance of names and their potential to inspire and motivate our service members.”

Among the 100 names now being considered, approximately 10% of them are women. They include Harriet Tubman and Mildred Kelly, the first female command sergeant major of a major Army installation. 

Other names being considered include former president Dwight Eisenhower, who served as supreme commander of Allied Forces during World War II, and Rodney Yano, a Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient.  

The list of recommendations can be found at https://www.thenamingcommission.gov/names.

The commission plans to engage military commanders and community leaders to gain feedback via virtual listening sessions in coming weeks before deliberating on final name recommendations.