Pentagon aims to rename major US air base after Lindsey Graham

The late Sen.Lindsey Graham spent decades straddling Washington and the war room — and now the Pentagon wants his name on one of America’s key military bases.The Defense Department is moving to rename Joint Base Charleston after the late South Carolina senator and Air Force veteran, honoring a lawmaker who maintained a rare connection to the military even while serving in Congress.The base — one of the nation’s most important airlift hubs — could become Joint Base Lindsey Graham under a plan outlined in an internal memo obtained by The Post and Courier, Charleston’s local newspaper.Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink directed officials in a July 27 letter to work with Air Mobility Command and Joint Base Charleston leadership to take “all necessary and appropriate actions” to begin the renaming process.The move honors Graham’s “decades of distinguished service to the United States Congress and the United States Air Force,” Meink wrote.“Senator Graham’s lifelong devotion to the military was shaped by his own military service and his public service in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives,” the secretary said.Graham, who died July 11, built a reputation in Washington as one of the Senate’s most outspoken defenders of the military — but his ties to the armed forces went far beyond casting votes on defense policy.After graduating from law school, Graham spent 33 years in the Air Force, including active-duty assignments in the 1980s as a military lawyer and lead prosecutor for the Air Force’s felony case division at Germany’s Rhein-Main Air Base.He later transferred to the South Carolina Air National Guard, where he continued serving until 2015 while rising through the political ranks.

During his time in Congress, Graham deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan — a rare distinction for a sitting lawmaker.He also traveled to conflict zones including Israel and Ukraine, returning from Kyiv shortly befo...