Name changes have become a signature of the Trump administration and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
First, it was changing Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg. Then, Fort Moore in Georgia went back to being called Fort Benning. Seven other Army bases followed, each returning to its original name.
Now, it’s the Department of Defense.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rebrand the Department of Defense to the Department of War, the department’s first title given by Congress in 1789. The name hasn’t been used since 1949.
“The name ‘Department of War,’ more than the current ‘Department of Defense,’ ensures peace through strength, as it demonstrates our ability and willingness to fight and win wars on behalf of our nation at a moment’s notice, not just to defend,” the order reads. “This name sharpens the department’s focus on our own national interest and our adversaries’ focus on our willingness and availability to wage war to secure what is ours.”
The Department of Defense’s official name change is still pending. While it is called the Department of War on social media platforms like X and Instagram, email communications and webpages, an act of Congress is required to make the name official. Only Congress can change department names.
Renamings are arduous and expensive. The Department of Defense’s change may require updating the names of more than 712,000 facilities across the U.S. and in 40 countries. Cost estimates are in the billions of dollars, according to Politico. However, the department doesn’t yet have a clear estimate of the total cost.
“The cost estimate will fluctuate as we carry out President Trump’s directive to establish the Department of War’s name,” a department official told CityView.
Fayetteville is intimately familiar with the price of a name change. Returning Fort Bragg’s name cost under $1 million, according to an estimate from The New York Times. That’s on top of the over $6 million to rebrand the installation to Fort Liberty in 2023, following legislation mandating military installations with names linked to the Confederacy be changed.
North Carolina’s Department of Transportation expects to pay $125,000 to change its 120 signs directing traffic toward Fort Bragg, said Andrew Barksdale, a communications officer with the department. The City of Fayetteville paid about $10,000 to revert its eight signs, according to Loren Bymer, director of the city’s marketing and communications department.
Updating the state’s signage has taken months, in part because the Department of Defense didn’t give NCDOT any warning that the name change was coming. Barksdale said they read about it in the news.
Fort Bragg’s name change became official in February. Since then, NCDOT engineers based in Fayetteville have met with Fort Bragg leadership to update them on plans and timelines for signage changes, Barksdale said.
New Fort Bragg signs took two to three months to manufacture, he said. NCDOT started installing them in mid-July.
About 95% of signs have been changed, with those still pending being smaller ones along less major thoroughfares. One of the last remaining major signs that needs to be updated is under the Santa Fe Drive bridge, right before the exit on I-29. That sign and all others still needing updates are expected to be completed by the end of the month.
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the News Foundation of Greater Fayetteville.