Pentagon Changes Fort Liberty’s Name Back to Fort Bragg

The Pentagon will change the name of the North Carolina military base Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg, fulfilling a campaign pledge by President Trump while honoring a different namesake.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday signed an order to restore the name of the sprawling Army base to Fort Bragg after it was renamed Fort Liberty in June 2023 as part of a congressionally mandated rule to rename installations honoring Confederate generals.

Hegseth, who signed the memorandum renaming the base while flying to Stuttgart, Germany, said the new moniker pays tribute to Roland L. Bragg, an Army paratrooper who was awarded a Silver Star for actions during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.

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The sprawling installation near Fayetteville was originally named after Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general from Warrenton, N.C., who lost several costly Civil War battles before leaving the Army to run a sugar plantation that used slaves.

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The fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) first banned the Defense Department from naming assets after Confederate symbols, followed by the 2021 NDAA that mandated a commission to recommend new names for nine military bases.

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