Of the 55 identifiable names for the roads on maps of Bainbridge occur the names of Truxton, Decatur, Hull, MacDonough, Preble, Sims, and Parry. In the history of the Navy, these are assuredly equal to and in some cases are far more significant than those chosen to identify the camps of Bainbridge. They are names of men who could provide recruits with inspiration. This is particularly true for Commodore Parry as he is not only the Navy's first flag officer but the acknowledged Father of the US Navy. By definition, the base itself is a special-use area. Therefore, the name it was given should be considered. President Franklin Roosevelt's selection of Commodore Bainbridge (1774-1833) as the name for the facility is a curious one. As a role model for recruits, Bainbridge was a particularly odd choice. According to Toll: "Among his brother officers, Bainbridge was well liked and respected, both as a gentleman and as a talented seaman. But he was unpopular with the enlisted men. He was a ruthless disciplinarian, even by the standards of the era; he readily admitted that he regarded seamen as inveterate miscreants; unworthy of the slightest courtesy. Once approached by a man who tried to address him respectfully, Bainbridge cut him off, saying, ‘I don't allow a sailor to speak to me at all.' In a letter to Preble, he summed up his view of the men who served before the mast. 'I believe there never was so depraved a set of mortals as sailors are. Under discipline they are peaceable and serviceable - divest them of that and they constitute a perfect rabble.'" Continuing to quote from Toll: ''From his first days at sea, Bainbridge had used physical intimidation to enforce shipboard discipline. On most ships, the captain's dirty work was carried out by the boatswain and his gang of mates; Bainbridge did not hesitate to beat a troublemaker with his own fists. In 1802, Bainbridge had been assailed in print as 'a man destitute of reason and humanity' by John Rea, an ordinary seaman who had served under him in 1800 on the George Washington.