The Cost To Rename The Department Of Defense Will Shock You

The Trump Administration's push to rename the Department of Defense (DOD) is a symbolic gesture that the Pentagon's head, Pete Hegseth, suggests "restores a clarity of purpose tied to winning wars," via Military.com. So far, the most notable effects of this change have taken the form of a few visible plaques, and the department's website and social media accounts being rebranded to display the name it hasn't had since 1947. The choice falls in nicely with the administration's efforts to revert to older practices, as the nation's military muscle was originally organized under the name "Department of War." Yet, in an administration focused on cutting costs and targeting waste, it's important to note that this simple name change could cost taxpayers up to an estimated $2 billion, according to NBC News. That might sound outrageous, but the financial tally to rechristen just nine Air Force and Army bases previously sporting Confederate officers' names came out to $62 million.

The Pentagon can publicly call itself whatever it wants, but Congress will need to pass legislation to make the swap official. That is perhaps where the costs start. Time spent legislating this issue is time that could be spent on things like spending bills aimed at reducing inflation pricing for consumers, keeping Medicare costs down for seniors, or other tasks essential to governance. On top of that, there's a huge array of minutiae that also goes into renaming such a large government body, which means more work and more costs may be coming.

In August, President Donald Trump mused: "We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too, if we have to be." With that, the gears seemingly started turning on a rebrand. If Congress ultimately approves the name change, countless behind-the-scenes augmentations will have to take place to enact that one-word alteration. For one thing, there are roughly 4,800 military installations around the world that bear DOD signage. These will all need to be changed. Reprinting training manuals, recruitment flyers, memos and strategy manuals, and everything else under the sun featuring a DOD logo and lettering will also need to be converted. It's not as simple as slowly altering documents as new updates take place: This change will require a massive overhaul of every little detail that sports the word "defense," including computerized and online databases. This also includes identification documents for soldiers and contractors who work all around the world. 

That's all to say nothing of the personal cost to individuals. Not counting the over 2 million servicemembers, who can recoup some of their financial losses by making use of their military discount, there are roughly 950,000 civilian workers employed by DOD. On top of all these costs to the federal budget, names matter. If this change goes through, it could shift the entire country's perception of and approach to conflict, potentially incurring all kinds of new expenses in the form of new military practices.