Hegseth Orders US Army to Restore Name of North Carolina Base to Fort Bragg

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signs a memorandum to restore the name Fort Bragg while flying in a C-17 operated by the 300th Airlift Squadron en route to Stuttgart, Germany, on Feb. 10, 2025. Courtesy of U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza/DOD

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has restored the name of Army base Fort Liberty in North Carolina to its original name, Fort Bragg, the Department of Defense (DOD) said in a Feb. 11 statement.

Established in 1918, the sprawling military complex houses the Airborne and Special Operations Forces and is home to 57,000 troops, according to its website.

It was originally named after Gen. Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general from Warrenton in North Carolina.

That name was changed to Fort Liberty in 2023 as part of efforts to remove names, symbols, displays, monuments, or paraphernalia that honored officials and military personnel linked to the Confederacy, a group of Southern states that seceded from the United States and fought against it in the Civil War in the 19th century.

The Pentagon said the new name does not honor Gen. Bragg but rather Private First Class Roland L. Bragg, whom it described as “a World War II hero who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge.”

“Pursuant to the authority of the Secretary of Defense, Title 10, United States Code, Section 113, I direct the Army to change the name of Fort Liberty, North Carolina, to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in honor of Private First Class Roland L. Bragg, who served with great distinction during World War II with the United States Army, and in recognition of the installation’s storied history of service to the United States of America,” Hegseth wrote in the memorandum.

“This directive honors the personal courage and selfless service of all those who have trained to fight and win our nation’s wars, including Pfc. Bragg, and is in keeping with the installation’s esteemed and storied history.”

Hegseth shared on social media platform X a video of himself signing the memo while flying on board a military plane from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to Stuttgart, Germany.

“That’s right. Bragg is back!” he said in the video.

Calls to rename bases across the country were prompted by the 2020 police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In 2022, the DOD—then headed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin—announced that multiple bases across the country would be given new names following an analysis by a Naming Commission made up of eight volunteers selected by Congress and the defense secretary.

The DOD said the commission had conducted “extensive consultations” with experts, historians, and “the communities rooted in the bases in question” for 18 months and found the Army bases were named in commemoration of the Confederacy and its leaders.

It said the bases to be changed included Fort Bragg, Fort Benning, and Fort Gordon in Georgia; Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Lee, and Fort Pickett in Virginia; and Fort Hood in Texas.

Fort Polk in Louisiana and Fort Rucker in Alabama also made the list.

The memorandum reversing the name of Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg was signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth while flying to Stuttgart, Germany, on Feb. 10, 2025. Courtesy of U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza/DOD

According to the Naming Commission, it was set to cost an estimated $21 million to rename the nine bases and $62.5 million to fully implement various recommendations laid out in the commission’s report.

In a statement at the time, Austin said the changes would “give proud new names that are rooted in their local communities and that honor American heroes whose valor, courage, and patriotism exemplify the very best of the United States military.”

President Donald Trump, who had opposed the expensive renaming procedure, said during a campaign stop in North Carolina last year that he wanted to restore the base’s name to Fort Bragg, but legislation passed by Congress in 2021 prohibits naming bases after anyone who voluntarily served or held leadership in the Confederate States of America.

Naming the base after a World War II hero meant the Trump administration was able to get around that law.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.