Military & Veteran Resources
A nearly 23,000-acre joint base flying the C-17 and anchoring the East Coast's largest Naval Weapons Station, a VA hospital named for a Medal of Honor Marine born in Charleston, and one of only six senior military colleges in the entire country.
Joint Base Lindsey Graham (formerly Joint Base Charleston)
Renamed Joint Base Lindsey Graham on August 10, 2026 in honor of the late U.S. Senator, the installation covers nearly 23,000 acres and serves more than 90,000 airmen, sailors, soldiers, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, DoD civilians, dependents, and retirees. Its 437th Airlift Wing and Air Force Reserve 315th Airlift Wing fly the C-17 Globemaster III, and the base shares runways with Charleston International Airport in a joint civil-military arrangement uncommon nationally. The base's Naval Weapons Station side is the largest of three Naval Weapons Stations on the U.S. East Coast and, per the base's own units page, the busiest surface port in the continental U.S. defense transportation system.
Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center
Charleston's VA hospital was rededicated in 1991 to honor Private First Class Ralph H. Johnson, a Charleston-born Marine who was killed on March 5, 1968 near An Hoa Combat Base in Vietnam after throwing himself on a grenade to save two fellow Marines — an act for which he received the Medal of Honor. His citation, Medal of Honor, and portrait are displayed in the medical center's front lobby.
The Citadel
Founded in 1842, The Citadel is the third-oldest of the six senior military colleges in the United States. Its South Carolina Corps of Cadets numbers 2,226 of the school's 3,721 total students, all of whom participate in ROTC across all six military branches; roughly a third of graduates enter the armed services each year, and alumni collectively known as "the Long Gray Line" include 299 who reached flag-officer rank.