East Texas Army Base Fort Hood is Now Officially Known As Fort Cavazos

After Hood Junior High changed its name a few years ago, now the Army base with the same name has just changed its name to Fort Cavazos.

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The U.S. Department of Defense announced back in October 2022 that Fort Hood will be changing its name from the Confederate General who fought against the United States, to the Army's first Hispanic four-star general who just happens to be from Texas.

Fort Hood as of Tuesday, May 9, 2023, became Fort Cavazos, named after Richard E. Cavazos who was the Army's first Latino four-star general.

The Killeen Daily Herald found less than 20% of those they polled were supportive of the name change but Mayor Debbie Nash-King is one of those in town that supports the name change, and she is also a veteran.

"I support the renaming of Fort Hood,” said the mayor. "I don't think you can ever erase history. But the climate that we are in today, the renaming of Fort Hood, the morale on Fort Hood, and also within the community and the nation, it's time for a change, from my perspective."

The military made the announcement they are changing Fort Hood and eight other bases across the country that are named after main Civil War figures that represent the Confederacy.

Richard Cavazos was the Army's first Latino four-star general who once commanded Fort Hood, retired in 1984, and passed away in 2017. He is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetary.

"There was never a lot of people saying change the name," said former Killeen Mayor and Army veteran Jose Segarra. "If I had a choice to leave it Fort Hood, I would have picked 'leave it Fort Hood,' because now it's like, I was stationed at Fort Hood. That's part of my history, you know. General Hood had nothing to do with it."

So if General Hood had nothing to do with it then it shouldn't matter if it is changed or not. Whether you like it or not, this is going to happen all across the country.