If you’re new to the Fort Liberty region, you’ve likely heard long-term residents correct themselves in conversation over the past year: “Fort Br — I mean, Fort Liberty,” more than once. One year after Fort Bragg was redesignated Fort Liberty, adjusting to the new name has been easier for some than others.
Fort Liberty Public Affairs Office collected views of the name change from Fort Liberty residents out and about with mixed results in a video by Jason Ragucci:
Some were casual, such as two service members shrugging and saying, “It is what it is.”
One unnamed civilian employee said, “I think it should stay the way it is. It’s a waste of money. It’s been Fort Bragg forever, and even if they do change it, people will still refer to this as Fort Bragg.”
Another unnamed service member was nonchalant: “Honestly, I just heard about it, so it doesn’t really affect me too much.”
“It’s good,” said another unnamed soldier. “I’m glad we don’t have Confederate generals honored throughout the country, although we should remember our history.”
“It doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s still a military base. I still come to work every day,” said an unnamed service member with enthusiasm. “Here to win peace around the world. Save people from bad guys, so you can call it Fort Liberty, Fort Bragg, Fort NFL, I don’t care.”
Changing to “Fort Liberty” was part of a U.S. Dept. of Defense effort to rename assets named after individuals associated with the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Though widely recognized, not everyone knows the reason behind why Fort Bragg became “Fort Liberty.”
Why “Fort Liberty”?
The name Fort Liberty, which took effect June 2, 2023, is rooted both in history and the installation’s identity. In a Fort Liberty Garrison Public Affairs Office video by Jason Ragucci, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Steven England, Fort Liberty area resident and Naming Commission Community Forum member, said, “There’s so much diversity on Fort Bragg, diversity in people, and diversity in units. So we were really wrestling with [deciding on] a person.”
Retired Gen. Dan McNeill, Fayetteville resident and chairperson of the Naming Commission Community Forum, said the names of those offered for the renaming of Fort Liberty were “all over the map,” but primarily known for brave acts of valor.
According to McNeill’s recollection of a Naming Commission meeting, an unnamed Gold Star spouse (the spouse of a service member fallen in combat) stopped the commission members in their tracks when she pointed out that any name would leave some individuals behind.
Following this up, she said, “I think you have to name it after what the men and women of Fort Bragg stand for. And I think ‘Liberty’ fairly represents what they stand for.”
According to the Associated Press, Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, the commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Liberty, said, “Fayetteville in 1775 signed one of the first accords declaring our willingness to fight for liberty and freedom from Great Britain … Liberty has always been ingrained in this area.”
Status of the Name Change Today
Fort Liberty remains the only installation not named after a person, according to the Associated Press. Col. John Wilcox told the Associated Press that the cost to rename the installation was then estimated to be about $8 million.
Outward-facing signs have been changed, but residents have likely noticed Fayetteville streets such as Bragg Boulevard remain as reminders of the town’s history. There’s a reason why Fayetteville is known as a “community of History, Heroes, and a Hometown Feeling.”
Perhaps coexisting “Fort Bragg” and “Fort Liberty” signs across the region serve as symbolic heralds of both Fayetteville’s history and its future. The remaining “Fort Bragg” signs remind residents of the complex history of the region that established the community as it is today. And the “Fort Liberty” signs convey hope for what it will become.
About Fort Liberty
According to Military One Source and Fort Liberty Garrison Public Affairs Officer April Olsen, Fort Liberty is home to:
Over 51,000 active-duty troops
Over 1,600 Reserve Components
Over 2,000 Temporary Duty students
Over 20,000 DOD civilians and contractors
Over 71,000 active-duty family members
125,000 retirees and family members in the area
Key commands include the 18th Airborne Corps, known as the nation’s Contingency Corps, and the 82nd Airborne Division, best known for the Global Response Force and its ability to deploy quickly when needed.
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 Liberty is also an economic juggernaut, with a yearly impact of more than $8 billion for the state of North Carolina, with most of that centered on Cumberland and surrounding counties.
Visiting Fort Liberty
There are numerous entry points to Fort Liberty, 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 Liberty, is open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, including federal holidays. A government-issued ID card, proof of insurance, and vehicle registration, as well as a valid reason for entering the installation, are required.
Six Facts about Fort Liberty
Why the change to “Liberty”: A commission named the installation “Fort Liberty” after numerous discussions with local stakeholders from the community. Garrison officials said community leaders were having difficulty zeroing in on one name among the installation’s long list of heroes. But they coalesced around the name Liberty at the suggestion of a Gold Star family member.
Camp Bragg to Fort Liberty: It’s hard to imagine Fayetteville or the North Carolina Sandhills without the looming presence of Fort Liberty. But that was a distinct possibility in the early 1920s, as the Army looked to shutter several training posts that were built during World War I. It was largely the effort of Brig. Gen. Albert Bowley, who commanded Bragg from 1921 until 1928, that saved what was then Camp Bragg and helped lay the foundation for the modern-day post. Bowley would later tell historians his efforts were “politics both Army and civil” that enlisted the aid of local and state leaders to secure the installation’s future.
Conservation for Endangered Woodpeckers: Fort Liberty 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 Liberty 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.
Major Leagues on Post: Then-Fort Bragg made history in the summer of 2018 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 Liberty community.
Keeping Soldiers Fed: Fort Liberty is home to nine dining facilities (DFAC) and numerous other dining options meant to sustain more than 50,000 hungry soldiers each day. The busiest time of the year for Fort Liberty’s food-service professionals is Thanksgiving, when hundreds of soldiers and civilians prepare thousands of pounds of turkey, beef, and all the traditional trimmings of the holiday meal.
Religious Diversity at Fort Liberty: There are at least seven different religious traditions included in the Religious Support Schedule on Fort Liberty including Asatru/Norse, Buddhist, Wiccan, Catholic, Islamic/Muslim, Jewish, and Protestant services at different times throughout the month.
Read the e-edition of the 2024-2025 issue of DestinationFAY here.
