Pentagon calls for Air Force to rename Charleston base after Sen. Lindsey Graham
By GREGORY SVIRNOVSKIY
The move, the secretary of the Air Force wrote, “honors Senator Graham’s decades of distinguished service to the United States Congress and the United States Air Force.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) holds a program with an image of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham during a congressional tribute to Graham in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on July 28, 2026.
The Pentagon is directing the Air Force to rename Joint Base Charleston, a Department of Defense military base down the road from the South Carolina Capitol, after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, as dignitaries from all over the world gathered to honor the four-term senator in a Washington funeral service.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and the White House’s official social media rapid response account both retweeted a report from The Post and Courier, the Charleston-based newspaper that first reported news of the base’s name change.
In a memorandum viewed by POLITICO titled “JB Charleston Renaming in Honor of Sen. Lindsey Graham,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink directed “Air Mobility Command as the cognizant Major Command to take steps to rename Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina to Joint Base Lindsey Graham.”
The move, Meink wrote, “honors Senator Graham’s decades of distinguished service to the United States Congress and the United States Air Force.”
Graham spent more than six years as an Air Force lawyer on active duty and joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves in 1995, retiring in 2015. He was elected to the House in 1994 and the Senate in 2002.
“Today’s announcement to rename Joint Base Charleston in honor of Senator Lindsey Graham is a fitting tribute to a man who dedicated his life to serving our nation and state,” said South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who won the state’s primary for governor in June. “From his service in the Air Force to his years in Congress and the U.S. Senate, Lindsey answered the call to serve with honor. His legacy will live on for generations. “
Graham’s sudden death, which his staff later said was caused by a heart issue, stunned Washington, touching off a wave of tributes and public jockeying over who will replace him, both as a senator and as a master of forging alliances within the political sphere.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to headline Graham’s funeral service with a speech at the National Cathedral this afternoon.
