N.C.’s Fort Bragg’s official new name will be Fort Liberty | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is Theresa Opeka.

    The United States Department of Defense has begun implementing name changes for military installations across the country, including North Carolina's Fort Bragg, which will now be known as Fort Liberty.

    The DOD made the official announcement on Jan. 5 after a congressionally mandated 90-day waiting period. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III issued a memo accepting the recommendations of The Naming Commission on Oct. 5.

    An uproar over the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 led to calls across the country to change the Confederate names of things like military ships, bases, and assets.

    According to a press release issued by the DOD, the complete report included the commission's plan to remove the names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America.

    Congress established the commission in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which then-President Trump vetoed in part due to the commission's existence. Bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate overrode his veto.

    Implementing all of the recommendations will cost an estimated $62.5 million.

    The cost to rename all assets at Fort Bragg - including many streets, buildings, uniforms, the USASOC Memorial Wall, the Parade Field, Hendrick Stadium Memorial Wall, and the 82nd Airborne Museum - is estimated to be $6.3 million, the most expensive of the ten military bases changing their names due to ties with the Confederacy.

    Fort Bragg was named in 1918 during the Jim Crow era after Confederate General Braxton Bragg, known for owning slaves, his bad temper, and for having lost most of his battles, making him one of the worst generals of the Civil War.

    It will be renamed Fort Liberty to commemorate the American value of Liberty.

    Other military base name changes include Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, which will be known as Fort Walker; Fort Hood, Texas - Fort Cavazos; Fort Lee, Virginia - Fort Gregg-Adams; Fort Pickett, Virginia - Fort Barfoot; Fort Polk - Fort Johnson; Fort Rucker - Fort Novosel, and Fort Gordon, Georgia, to be named Fort Eisenhower, after General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

    The DOD has until Jan. 1, 2024, to complete all renaming and removals at the installations.