Fort Polk’s new name is, once again, Fort Polk. In June 2025 the Army reverted the Louisiana installation’s name from Fort Johnson back to Fort Polk, but with a deliberate change in who the base honors: it now commemorates General James H. Polk, a decorated World War II commander, rather than the Confederate lieutenant general Leonidas Polk whose name the base originally carried.1Rep. Marilyn Strickland. Fort Who? Republicans Join House Dems to Bar Hegseths Military Base Name Changes
Who Is the New Fort Polk Named After
James H. Polk graduated from West Point in 1933 and served roughly 38 years before retiring as a four-star general in 1971. He started out as a horse cavalry officer and became a pioneer of mechanized warfare. During World War II he commanded the 3rd Mechanized Cavalry Group, spearheading General Patton’s Third Army advances through France, Germany, and Czechoslovakia, and he earned the Silver Star for gallantry in combat.
His post-war record is just as substantial. He commanded the 4th Armored Division during the Cold War, served as U.S. Commandant of Berlin during the years when the Berlin Wall went up, and finished his career as Commander in Chief of U.S. Army Europe from 1967 to 1971. He has no connection to the Confederate general who shared his surname.
What the Base Was Called Before
Between June 2023 and June 2025, the installation was known as Fort Johnson. That name honored Sergeant William Henry Johnson of the 369th Infantry Regiment, the “Harlem Hellfighters” of World War I.2The United States Army. Hero Embodies Warrior Spirit at Historic Redesignation Ceremony
On May 15, 1918, then-Private Johnson and a fellow soldier were on night sentry duty along the Western Front when at least 12 German soldiers attacked their position. Badly wounded, Johnson fought back with his rifle, a bolo knife, and whatever else he could grab, inflicting several casualties and preventing his injured comrade’s capture. He became one of the first Americans awarded the French Croix de Guerre. Recognition from his own country came slowly: the Purple Heart posthumously in 1996, the Distinguished Service Cross in 2002, and the Medal of Honor in 2015, presented by President Barack Obama nearly a century after the fight.3United States Army. Sergeant Henry Johnson Medal of Honor Recipient
The Fort Johnson designation came out of Section 370 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which directed the Department of Defense to strip all Confederate-associated names from its property.4U.S. Government Publishing Office. Public Law 116-283 – William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 A congressional Naming Commission gathered more than 34,000 public suggestions before recommending replacements for all nine affected Army posts,5U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence. Naming Commission Report Part II and Fort Polk was redesignated Fort Johnson at a ceremony on June 13, 2023.
Why the Name Changed Back in 2025
The reversal was driven by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who argued that the 2023 renamings had broken a “generational link” with military history and hurt morale. His approach kept the familiar base names while formally attaching them to non-Confederate service members who happened to share the same surname. Fort Bragg and Fort Benning had already been reverted earlier in 2025 under this same-surname method, and seven more bases, including Fort Polk, followed in June 2025.1Rep. Marilyn Strickland. Fort Who? Republicans Join House Dems to Bar Hegseths Military Base Name Changes
Where the Law Stands Now
Critics called the same-surname approach a workaround of the 2021 statute and the Naming Commission’s public process. During negotiations over the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, the House Armed Services Committee adopted an amendment that would have required all bases to keep the Naming Commission’s chosen names, and the Senate included similar language covering three Virginia installations. Both provisions were in the compromise bill produced by Armed Services leaders from both parties. They were stripped from the final text in December 2025 after the White House threatened to veto the entire defense bill over the naming issue.6Rep. Marilyn Strickland. Trump Threatened to Veto NDAA Over Base Names, Rep. Strickland Says
For now, the base’s official name on signs, orders, and maps is Fort Polk, honoring General James H. Polk.
Other Bases That Reverted at the Same Time
Fort Polk was one of seven Army installations restored to their pre-2023 names in June 2025, each under the same-surname formula:
- Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, previously Fort Walker, now honoring Lt. Col. Edward Hill, 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn, and Pvt. Bruce Anderson
- Fort Gordon in Georgia, previously Fort Eisenhower, now honoring Medal of Honor recipient Master Sgt. Gary I. Gordon
- Fort Hood in Texas, previously Fort Cavazos, now honoring Col. Robert B. Hood
- Fort Lee in Virginia, previously Fort Gregg-Adams, now honoring Pvt. Fitz Lee
- Fort Pickett in Virginia, previously Fort Barfoot, now honoring 1st Lt. Vernon W. Pickett
- Fort Rucker in Alabama, previously Fort Novosel, now honoring Capt. Edward W. Rucker
Fort Bragg (briefly Fort Liberty) and Fort Benning (briefly Fort Moore) had already been reverted earlier in 2025.