Update on the battle streamers initiative
It's time for everyone to get involved---what can YOU do?
When the Trump Administration took office, the national office of the Sons of Confederate Veterans sent out a message, on February 12th, about base renamings. Here is part of that message; the emphasis is in the original:
We need to keep President Trump, VP Vance, and Secretary of Defense Hegseth on our side. Derogatory remarks…will not aid our effort. Here is what you can do to help.
As much as we want the names of the bases changed back to their original names that will take an Act of Congress because Congress passed Legislation in 2021 to change the names. Correcting these tragedies will require Congressional Legislation. The new administration in Washington is rejecting the Woke ideology. This provides us an opportunity to launch a counterattack against the Woke ideologues who attacked our Southern Heritage. If we act decisively, we can restore Military Base names, once again allow Southern National Guard Units to display unit battle honors won during the “Civil War,” and restore the Arlington Reconciliation Monument.
I read this to mean that SCV national has determined that at least some Congressional action is needed, to remedy the excesses of the Naming Commission. One of the best ways to do that is to amend the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, or “NDAA.”
The NDAA funds the Defense Department. It is one of those big omnibus bills that Congress passes every year, because it HAS to. Otherwise, the DOD would stop functioning worldwide. So, lots of Congresscritters tack controversial legislation on the back of the annual NDAA, to get it passed into law without most people noticing. The Naming Commission was created by an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2001 NDAA.
The Arizona Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is calling on the GOP members of the Arizona Congressional delegation to amend the FY 2026 NDAA, which Congress will debate and pass this summer, to put the Confederate battle streamers back on Army National Guard colors.
You can help by contacting your members of Congress, sharing the link above with them, and insisting that they support this effort.
As we see it, the members of Congress who can be most helpful here, are GOP members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. This post explains why we should target GOP members of Congress. And, it was the Armed Services Committee that, in the fall of 2022, took the final report of the Naming Commission. At least one Congressional staffer has said that the Armed Services Committee is the appropriate venue for our request. So…the Armed Services Committee it is, then!
The latest word we have is that Congress will vote on NDAA amendments no earlier than AFTER the 4th of July. Unless the GOP contingent of the Arizona Congressional delegation chickens out, there WILL be an attempt to submit an amendment to the FY 2026 NDAA, by somebody.
An important—— and potentially VERY useful—— note of clarification: It’s possible that Congress DOES NOT NEED TO PASS LEGISLATION, in order to put the Confederate battle streamers back on Army National Guard colors. If you look at the SCV National HQ statement of February 12th, it says that legislation is probably needed to put the original Confederate names back on the Army bases. It doesn’t say that new legislation is needed to put the battle streamers back on unit colors.
The goal, of this particular initiative, is to restore the battle streamers. Yes, the Confederate heritage community has many other fish to fry. But, right now and right here, we’re focusing on battle streamers.
It seems to us that motivated Congressmen/Congresswomen/Senators can find ways to quietly but intensely put pressure on the Defense and Army Departments to restore the battle streamers. The SCV Arizona Division information paper linked above spells all this out.
We all understand—-or should understand—-that one of the most potent ways Congress exerts its influence is behind the scenes, out of the public eye, through the discussions it has with executive branch officials. All members of Congress have much, much better access to the DOD and Army leadership than you or I do.
So, if you have a Member of Congress who is scared of going public on the issue of Confederate heritage, remind them that our end goal is to get the Confederate battle streamers back on Army National Guard colors. We are flexible when it comes to WHO does it, or HOW it gets one. Our goal—— and expectation—— is that Congress finds SOME way to GET it done.
And, the time to get it done is now. We all know that, once we hit Labor Day, everyone will become obsessed with the 2026 midterm Congressional elections. Therefore, it’s necessary to get controversial topics dealt with and out of the way BEFORE then. Our members of Congress cannot be allowed to wait until a more convenient time to deal with this issue, because there will most likely NEVER BE A MORE CONVENIENT TIME!