National Guard preparing to choose new name for Camp Beauregard
The opportunity to submit new name recommendations for the Louisiana National Guard’s training center in Pineville is nearing its close, with the deadline to submit suggestions being this Sunday, July 31.
The Louisiana National Guard created a committee to rename its primary training center, Camp Beauregard, earlier this year and began taking new name nominations on May 1. The committee includes military officials, local and state officials who together will review all submissions and submit their top picks to Adjutant General, Major Gen. D. Keith Waddell.
Committee members say that names to be considered should “reflect the values of the Louisiana National Guard, the state of Louisiana and the United States of America”.
The decision to rename the training center came after the federal Naming Commission recommended new names for nine military installations, including Fort Polk, whose names held ties to the confederacy.
The changes were mandated by Congress in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, but the order did not apply to Camp Beauregard because it is owned by the Louisiana National Guard and thereby does not fall under the federal commission’s authority.
The decision to rename the training center was later made by Guard officials.
Camp Beauregard was named after Gen. Pierre Gustav Touting (P.G.T.) Beauregard, the same man for which Beauregard Parish is named for, in 1917. It was designated a Louisiana National Guard facility in 1921. The installation serves as the primary annual training and pre-mobilization training platform for the Louisiana National Guard.
Citizens may submit their new name suggestions online at geauxguard.la.gov, or by mailing in the written suggestion to Camp Beauregard Headquarters, Bldg. 1451, 15th Street, Camp Beauregard, Pineville, La. 71360.