‘Bragg is back’: Hegseth orders Fort Liberty honor new Bragg with renaming

• The Pentagon is changing the name of North Carolina military base Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg. The move delivers on a campaign promise from President Donald Trump.
• The change honors a different Bragg than its original namesake, Gen. Braxton Bragg, who fought for the Confederacy.
• Instead, the name recognizes Private First-Class Roland L. Bragg, who was awarded a Silver Star for his action as a U.S. Army paratrooper during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.

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The Pentagon has announced it’s changing the name of Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg. The move delivers on a campaign promise from President Donald Trump.

“I’m going to promise you as I said at the beginning that we’re going to change the name back to Fort Bragg,” Trump said, in October 2024 at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

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Who will the base now honor?

The change honors a different Bragg than its original namesake, Gen. Braxton Bragg, who fought for the Confederacy. It instead recognizes Private-First-Class Roland L. Bragg, who was awarded a Silver Star for his actions as a U.S. Army paratrooper during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed the order on Monday, Feb. 10.

In a video posted on X, Hegseth read the proclamation after signing the document.

“There it is. Pursuant to the authority of the Secretary of Defense Title X, United States Code Section 113. I direct the Army to change the name of Fort Liberty North Carolina to Fort Bragg North Carolina,” Hegseth said. “That’s right. [Fort] Bragg is back.”

Why was the name changed initially?

The restoration of the name comes after the military installation was changed to Fort Liberty in June 2023 as part of a mandate by U.S. Congress to rename military sites honoring Confederate generals.

Consecutive defense authorization bills first banned the military from naming installations after Confederates and created a commission to suggest new names.

Trump vetoed the defense bill in 2020, but the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate overrode his veto.

Military branches like the Army are still authorized to rename bases as long as they are not named after Confederates.

How much will it cost?

The Congressional Naming Commission estimated the initial changing of the name to Fort Liberty cost more than $6 million. It’s unclear how much the latest change will cost.

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Hegseth’s memo signed on Feb. 10, orders the U.S. Army to inform the Trump administration of the timeline and needed resources to implement the name change.