JULY 29, 2025 — Two years after a name change, The Great Place is Fort Hood again, honoring a World War I hero, Col. Robert Benjamin Hood.
During a ceremony July 28, 2025, at the III Armored Corps Headquarters flagpole, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hood commander Col. Mark McClellan and U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hood Command Sgt. Maj. Loyd Rhoades cased the Fort Cavazos colors and unfurled the Fort Hood colors, marking the installation’s return to Fort Hood and paying respect to Hood, known for his dedication to service and the Army values.
A Distinguished Service Cross recipient, Hood was dedicated to his Soldiers and deeply respected by his peers and subordinates, III Armored Corps and Fort Hood Commanding General Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral said.
“Col. Hood represents the ideal citizen-Soldier, a man who rose to the occasion when his nation needed him most and continued to give back long after the fighting had ceased,” Admiral said. “In recognition of his service, Col. Hood’s name will live on as generations of Soldiers who served and will serve here learn about his career and the impact he had on our Army.”
Mitzi Huffman, Hood’s daughter, said the post’s redesignation in her father’s name has been humbling and overwhelming. Huffman attended the July 28 ceremony with her husband and other family members.
“I’ve been very humbled,” she said. “He never talked about his military experience. I did not know that he had a Distinguished Service Cross until we were preparing him for burial in Arlington.”
Hood passed away when Huffman was a young teen, but she remembers his military bearing and discipline during her childhood. Since the announcement that Fort Hood would be redesignated to honor her father. Huffman has reflected on her childhood and her father, finding comfort in her memories.
“As I reflect back on his parenting skills, honor and bravery and selfless service and integrity were very important to him,” she said. “This has been a lovely experience to unfreeze and come forward like this. It really has been overwhelming.”
Huffman recalled daily duties around the home, organization in childhood bedrooms and a father who encouraged his daughters to be strong when most young woman were graduating high school and marrying.
“He kept encouraging us to get educated, to be able to care for ourselves at all times,” she said.
Hood was born April 8, 1891, in Wellington, Kansas. He graduated from Kansas State Agricultural College — now Kansas State University — located in Manhattan, Kansas, in 1914.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army on Aug. 8, 1917, and served with Echo Battery, 12th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
The unit still serves today as part of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado, and III Armored Corps.
“Col. Hood was also one of the original Phantom Warriors,” Admiral said, adding 2nd Infantry Division was originally part of III Armored Corps.
Hood was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions under fire on Sept. 12, 1918, near Thiaucourt, France, during WWI. During a firefight, then-Capt. Hood “displayed extraordinary courage and tactical brilliance as he expertly maneuvered his artillery battery under a barrage of heavy and persistent enemy fire,” according to the award narrative.
“After his initial gun crews were lost to German artillery and machine gun fire, he rapidly reorganized his unit, restoring its combat capability in short order,” Admiral said. “His actions earned him the nation’s second-highest military honors.”
Hood continued his military service, including surviving the Pearl Harbor attack while stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and later commanded an artillery training unit at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, during World War II.
After 44 years of service, he retired in 1961 as a colonel. Hood died Oct. 12, 1964, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, located in Arlington, Virginia.
“Col. Hood’s life reminds us that while not every hero becomes a household name, their legacy can be immortalized by the values they live and the lives they touch,” Admiral said.
Renaming the installation after the WWI hero was a fitting tribute, as both the man and post embodied a commitment to training and preparing warfighters.
“During the (Interwar Period), these (years) were marked by reflection and innovation within our Army, and officers like Col. Hood played essential roles in training, doctrine, development and mentorship of younger Soldiers,” Admiral said. “His dedication to these efforts ensures that the U.S. military was ready for action for World War II and beyond.”
Originally designated Camp Hood, the Central Texas post was established in 1942 as a WWII tank destroyer training center. Initially established as a temporary post, training ramped up throughout the 1940s, leading to the post’s designation as a permanent installation, Fort Hood.
The post has continued to grow since then.
“Fort Hood, established in 1942, was built to meet the urgent need for a large armor training base,” Admiral said. “Since those early days, it’s grown into one of the largest and most important military bases in the world, spanning over 200,000 acres.”
The Central Texas post is not only a place for training, but a “living, breathing community, home to thousands of active-duty service members, families and civilians who work together to support the Army’s mission,” the III Armored Corps commander noted.
The post’s contributions to the nation and the Army are well-established.
“Fort Hood has stood for more than seven decades as a symbol of strength, combat readiness and national pride,” Admiral said. “Its significance to the U.S. Army and the fabric of our country cannot be overstated.”
The name has changed, but at its core, Fort Hood has remained steadfast in its mission to warfighters and their families.
“From its founding during World War II to this moment of redesignation, Fort Hood has stood as a bastion of readiness, rooted in sacrifice and strengthened by the unwavering support of our surrounding communities,” said Chaplain (Col.) Kevin E. Wainwright, III Armored Corps chaplain, during the invocation.
Fort Hood was originally redesignated Fort Cavazos on May 9, 2023, in honor of the late retired Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, who served as a III Corps commanding general between 1980 and 1982, as part of a congressionally mandated effort to rename nine Army installations named for Confederate soldiers.
The Naming Commission, established by Congress in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, was tasked with “assigning, modifying or removing of names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia to assets of the Department of Defense that commemorate the Confederate States of America (CSA) or any person who served voluntarily with the CSA.”
The commission also recommended namesakes for each of the affected installations.
Cavazos was a Silver Star and two-time Distinguished Service Cross recipient for valorous acts during combat operations in the Korean War and Vietnam War. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on Jan. 3, 2025, for his actions June 14-15, 1953, in the Korean War.
Fort Hood was renamed for Col. Hood on June 11, 2025, in an order signed by Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, following an announcement by President Donald Trump that all nine installations would be reverted to their original names, in honor of recognized military heroes.
Willie Keller Jr., an Army veteran who served at Fort Hood and is currently post commander at Command Sgt. Maj. A.C. Cotton VFW Post 12209 at Fort Hood, said the renaming was a historic event.
“The military is built on history,” Keller said. “The garrison commander and garrison (command) sergeant major went through the ceremony to close out on a chapter of the book of this installation and open a new chapter in the book of this installation.”
By Heather Ashley