Joint Base Charleston renamed for late Sen. Lindsey Graham

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and an assortment of government officials gathered on a hot afternoon in Charleston, S.C., to rename Joint Base Charleston for one of its prominent sons.

“It is my honor to say welcome to Joint Base Lindsey Graham,” Hegseth said.

Air Force veteran and late Sen. Lindsey Graham died on July 11 from an aortic tear, two days after turning 71.

Graham, who spent three decades representing South Carolina in both congressional chambers, was a leading Republican Party voice for a more active U.S. role in global affairs, often backing the use of the military overseas.

“The names we attach to our military installations reveal something about ourselves. They signal the type of service we honor, the kind of character we esteem, and perhaps above all, the sort of example we ask future generations to follow,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a native South Carolinian. “Today, this base takes the name of a patriot who embodied each of those ideals in equal measure.”

Graham served for 33 years in the Air Force and Air Force Reserve, including active-duty service in Germany as an Air Force lawyer, according to a biography on his office’s website. He retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2015 as a colonel.

Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to fill her brother’s vacant seat, joked that her brother would say to people gathered at the naming ceremony: “What are we doing sitting out in this hot sun today?”

“Lindsey loved the Air Force. He loved its mission,” she added. “He loved wearing the uniform of his country.”

Darline said her brother always wanted to be a pilot. He got his pilot’s license when he was in high school but had issues hearing in one ear. He became a lawyer, and “the rest is history.”

Graham was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and to the Senate in 2002. He was reelected in 2008, 2014 and 2020.

Joint Base Charleston receives installation support from the Air Force’s 628th Air Base Wing and hosts more than 60 Defense Department and federal agencies, according to the base.

It is widely known as the site of the nation’s largest fleet of C-17 cargo jets. The gray tails of the aircraft bear the name Charleston.

The base is home to two primary flying units, the active-duty 437th Airlift Wing and the Air Force Reserve’s 315th Airlift Wing.

“From today forward, these planes will have Joint Base Graham on their tail, a reminder that Senator Graham was the American people’s workhorse,” Bessent said. “That is why Lindsey Graham’s legacy belongs here, and it’s why this base will bear his name with pride.”

Hegseth echoed the sentiment.

“I believe that he will continue here, and around the world, to inspire airmen for generations to come,” Hegseth said. “And I say around the world because, as was mentioned, those gray tails that say Charleston, now when they land in far-flung places, will say Graham. The world will remember that name.”

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink signed a memo last month initiating the steps to rename the base after Graham.

Bessent credited Elliott Summey, president and CEO of Charleston International Airport, for his advocacy of the renaming and senior Pentagon leadership for rapid implementation.

Summey wrote a letter to President Donald Trump, dated July 12, explaining what Graham meant to South Carolina and the Air Force base.

“I sent it to Secretary Bessent. I said, ‘Hey, I don’t know how to get this to the president … but for what it’s worth, I just wanted somebody to know how I felt,’” Summey said prior to the ceremony.

Summey said he doesn’t know how much his letter helped, but he knows Graham cared about the mission at the base. When he was in Charleston, Graham was “always at the base.”

“He was about securing our world and making our world a better place, and understood the military’s role in all of that,” Summey added. “And he was an Air Force guy through and through.”

The renaming occurred the day before South Carolina’s special primary election for Graham’s seat.

Graham won the June 9 Republican primary for renomination to the Senate seat he first won in 2002. His unexpected death created a vacancy not only for his current U.S. Senate seat but for his spot on the November ballot as the party’s pick to compete for another six-year term.

The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews.