About Fort Bragg

According to Military One Source and Fort Bragg Garrison Public Affairs Officer April Olsen, Fort Bragg is home to: 

  • Over 48,000 total troops
  • Over 1,600 Reserve Components
  • Over 2,000 Temporary Duty students 
  • Over 16,000 DOD civilians and contractors
  • Over 80,000 military family members
  • 97,000 retirees and family supported

Key commands include the XVIII Airborne Corps, known as the nation’s Contingency Corps, and the 82nd Airborne Division, which provides the majority of the Global Response Force.

The Army Special Operations headquarters is also on post, as is the secretive Joint Special Operations Command. The sprawling installation includes the headquarters of the Army’s largest command, U.S. Army Forces Command, which oversees the bulk of the nation’s warfighters.

Not only a military powerhouse, Fort Bragg is also an economic juggernaut, with a yearly impact of more than $8.8 billion for the state of North Carolina, with most of that centered on Cumberland and surrounding counties.

Top commands

Here is a list of top commands, according to Olsen:

  • U.S. Army Forces Command: Led by a four-star general, Forces Command is the largest organization in the Army, with oversight over more than 750,000 active and Reserve soldiers. Forces Command trains and prepares combat-ready forces to meet Combatant Command requirements.
  • XVIII Airborne Corps: Without advance warning, the XVIII Airborne Corps deploys globally, forms a seamless Joint and Coalition team, and deters or defeats any adversary.
  • U.S. Army Special Operations Command: The Army’s special operations forces are commanded from Fort Bragg. They include Rangers, Green Berets, elite aviators, and civil affairs and psychological soldiers.
  • Joint Special Operations Command: These are the leaders of America’s most elite and secretive units.
  • U.S. Army Reserve Command: The headquarters for the Army Reserve is centrally located alongside Forces Command.
  • 82nd Airborne Division: The largest single soldier population on Fort Bragg, the 82nd is best known for the Global Response Force and its ability to deploy quickly when needed.
  • 1st Special Forces Command: The nation’s irregular warfare experts include its Green Berets.
  • U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School: The U.S. Army’s Special Operations Center of Excellence, responsible for preparing and producing Special Forces, Civil Affairs, and Psychological Operations soldiers.
  • Security Force Assistance Command: This command oversees the Army’s Security Force Assistance Brigades, which help train and advise partner nations around the world.
  • U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command: This Army Reserve command has units spread across the nation providing specialized skills that are largely found only in the Reserve component.
soldiers fold a flag
Soldiers uncase the colors denoting Fort Bragg during a redesignation ceremony changing the name of Fort Liberty to its previous name Fort Bragg on March 7, 2025. Credit: Melissa Sue Gerrits / CityView

Five facts about Fort Bragg

  1. From Bragg to Liberty and back again: The initial change from Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty in June 2023 was part of an initiative by the Department of Defense to rename military installations that bore the names of Confederate soldiers. In February 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum that shifts the installation’s name back to Bragg, now honoring Army Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, who served during WWII.
  2. Conservation for Endangered Woodpeckers: Fort Bragg is home to several endangered and rare plants and animals. The most notable is the red-cockaded woodpecker, the presence of which threatened the post’s existence in the early 1990s and spurred a conservation effort that has been repeatedly praised for helping protect both military training and the small, palm-sized birds. Other species that call Fort Bragg home include the St. Francis’ Satyr butterfly — the only known population lives on post — and the Venus flytrap, a rare carnivorous plant whose exact locations are a close-kept secret to protect them from poachers.
  3. Major Leagues on Post: Fort Bragg made history in the summer of 2016 when Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association partnered to host the first regular-season professional sports matchup on an active military base. The Miami Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves 5-2 in the contest, which was broadcast on ESPN. While the grandstands were removed after the game, the field itself is still used by the Fort Bragg community.
  4. Keeping Soldiers Fed: According to Olsen, Fort Bragg is home to eight dining facilities (DFAC) “on the Fort Bragg main cantonment area,” which serve an average of 7,200 meals every day and, in fiscal year 2024, served 2.4 million meals.
  5. Religious Diversity at Fort Bragg: The Religious Support Schedule on Fort Bragg offers services for six different religions at different times, according to Olsen, “including Asatru/Norse, Buddhist, Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, Latter-day Saints, Seventh-Day Adventists), Islamic/Muslim, Jewish, and Wiccan.” 

Visiting Fort Bragg

There are numerous entry points to Fort Bragg, but if you don’t have a military ID, your first stop will be the All American Visitor Control Center.

The center, located where the All American Freeway meets Fort Bragg, is open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, including federal holidays. A government-issued REAL ID card, proof of insurance, and vehicle registration, as well as a valid reason for entering the installation, are required.

Read CityView Magazine‘s e-edition of the 2025-2026 issue of DestinationFAY here.