Defense secretary orders US Army to restore name of army base

Fort Bragg name restored as defense secretary reverses 2023 change

Robert Besser
16 Feb 2025, 15:55 GMT+10

Defense secretary orders US Army to restore name of army base

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has changed the name of the Army base Fort Liberty back to its original name, Fort Bragg
The Department of Defense announced the decision, reversing a 2023 name change made during racial justice protests
Fort Bragg, one of the world’s largest military bases, was renamed Fort Liberty as part of a plan to remove Confederate names from military bases

FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has changed the name of the Army base Fort Liberty back to its original name, Fort Bragg.

The Department of Defense announced the decision, reversing a 2023 name change made during racial justice protests.

Fort Bragg, one of the world's largest military bases, was renamed Fort Liberty as part of a plan to remove Confederate names from military bases. This effort began after nationwide protests following the 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in Minneapolis.

In a video posted on the Department of Defense's website, Hegseth said, "That's right, Bragg is back," as he signed the order.

Local media reported that former President Donald Trump had said he wanted to restore the Fort Bragg name during a campaign stop in North Carolina last year.

In 2021, Congress passed a law banning military bases from being named after people who served in the Confederate States of America, a group of Southern states that fought against the U.S. during the Civil War.

Fort Bragg, established in 1918, was originally named after General Braxton Bragg, a Confederate officer. It is home to 57,000 troops and houses the Airborne and Special Operations Forces.

To avoid the ban on Confederate names, Hegseth officially renamed the base after Private First Class Roland Bragg, a soldier who served with distinction in World War II.

Hegseth wrote in his memo that Fort Bragg's renaming honors all U.S. soldiers who have trained to fight and win U.S. wars and is "in keeping with the installation's esteemed and storied history."