[edit]
The Special Warfare Memorial Statue by Donald De Lue (1968) at Fort Bragg
World War I[edit]
Camp Bragg was established in 1918 as an artillery training ground. The Chief of Field Artillery, Major General William J. Snow, was seeking an area having suitable terrain, adequate water, rail facilities, and a climate suitable for year-round training, and he decided that the area met all of the desired criteria. Camp Bragg (later Fort Bragg) was originally named after Braxton Bragg, a former U.S. Army artillery commander and West Point graduate who later in life became a well known Confederate general during the American Civil War.
The aim was for six artillery brigades to be stationed there and $6 million (equivalent to $128,400,000 in 2025) was spent on the land and cantonments. There was an airfield on the camp used by aircraft and balloons for artillery spotters. The airfield was named Pope Field on 1 April 1919, in honor of First Lieutenant Harley H. Pope, an airman who was killed while flying nearby. The work on the camp was finished on 1 November 1919.
The original plan for six brigades was abandoned after World War I ended and once demobilization had started. The artillerymen, and their equipment and material from Camp McClellan, Alabama, were moved to Camp Bragg and testing began on long-range weapons that were a product of the war. The six artillery brigades were reduced to two cantonments and a garrison was to be built for Army troops as well as a National Guard training center. In early 1921 two field artillery units, the 13th and 17th Field Artillery Brigades, began training at Camp Bragg. The same year, the Long Street Church and six acres of property were acquired for the reservation. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Due to the post-war cutbacks, the camp was nearly closed for good when the War Department issued orders to close the camp on 7 August 1921. Brig. Gen. Albert J. Bowley was commander at the camp and after much campaigning, and getting the Secretary of War to visit the camp, the closing order was canceled on 16 September 1921. The Field Artillery Board was transferred to Camp Bragg on 1 February 1922.[citation needed]
Camp Bragg was renamed Fort Bragg, to signify becoming a permanent Army post, on 30 September 1922. From 1923 to 1924 permanent structures were constructed on Fort Bragg, including four barracks.
World War II[edit]
By 1940, the year after World War II started, the population of Fort Bragg was 5,400 and by the following year had reached 67,000. Various units trained at Fort Bragg during World War II, including the 9th Infantry Division, 2nd Armored Division, 82nd Airborne Division, 100th Infantry Division, and various field artillery groups. The population reached a peak of 159,000 during the war years.
Cold War[edit]
An Army Special Forces operator with his customized M4 carbine prepares to breach an entryway while training in close quarters battle tactics at Fort Bragg, mid-1999
Following World War II, the 82nd Airborne Division was permanently stationed at Fort Bragg, the only large unit there for some time. In July 1951, the XVIII Airborne Corps was reactivated at Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg became a center for unconventional warfare, with the creation of the Psychological Warfare Center in April 1952, followed by the 10th Special Forces Group.
In 1961, the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was activated at Fort Bragg, with the mission of training counter-insurgency forces in Southeast Asia. Also in 1961, the "Iron Mike" statue, a tribute to all Airborne soldiers, past, present, and future was dedicated. In early 1962 the 326 Army Security Agency Company, de-activated after the Korean War, was reactivated at Fort Bragg under XVIIIth Corps. In August of that year, an operational contingent of that Company was relocated to Homestead AFB Florida, due to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Circa 1963, that contingent was reassigned to the newly created USASA 6th Field Station. More than 200,000 young men underwent basic combat training here during the period 1966–70. At the peak of the Vietnam War in 1968, Fort Bragg's military population rose to 57,840. In June 1972, the 1st Corps Support Command arrived at Fort Bragg.
In the 1980s, there was a series of deployments of tenant units to the Caribbean, first to Grenada in 1983, Honduras in 1988, and to Panama in 1989. The 5th Special Forces Group departed Fort Bragg in the late 1980s.
Middle East wars[edit]
Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division with their M4 carbines training on Fort Bragg, December 2005
In 1990, the XVIII Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne Division deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. In the mid- and late 1990s, there was increased modernization of the facilities in Fort Bragg. The World War II wooden barracks were largely removed, a new main post exchange was built, and Devers Elementary School was opened, along with several other projects.
As a result of campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, the units on Fort Bragg have seen a sizeable increase to their operations tempo (OPTEMPO), with units conducting two, three, or even four or more deployments to combat zones. As directed by law, and in accordance with the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, Fort McPherson, Georgia, closed and U.S. Army Forces Command and U.S. Army Reserve Command relocated to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. A new FORSCOM/U.S. Army Reserve Command Headquarters facility completed construction at Fort Bragg in June 2011. Forces Command hosted 24 June 2011, an Army "Casing of the Colors" ceremony on Fort McPherson and an "uncasing of colors ceremony" on 1 August 2011, at Fort Bragg. On 1 March 2011, Pope Field, the former Pope Air Force Base, was absorbed into Fort Bragg.[citation needed]
Name changes[edit]
Fort Liberty, main gate sign (All-American gate), June 2023
On 1 January 2021, the United States Senate passed a veto override of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. This new law helped in establishing the Naming Commission, which would select new names for Department of Defense properties named in honor of Confederate officials. In the law, Congress determined that those who chose to side with the Confederate Army during the American Civil War were unworthy of being namesakes. In March 2022, the commission published a list of 87 potential names for nine Army installations, including Fort Bragg.
In May 2022, the commission officially recommended that Fort Bragg be renamed to Fort Liberty. The commission gave the Pentagon until October to accept the name change; Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin did so on 6 October 2022. According to a memorandum published by the Pentagon at the time, the new name changes cost the Department of Defense $62.5 million. In particular, the change to Fort Liberty was calculated to cost the Department of Defense $6,374,230, making it the most expensive name change. In accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act, the local garrison had until early 2024 to complete the name change. On 2 June 2023, Fort Liberty officially adopted its new name in a public ceremony.
On 10 February 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a memorandum directing the U.S. Army to rename Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg, but this time in honor of Private First Class Roland L. Bragg, rather than the original namesake. Bragg was stationed at Fort Bragg during World War II and later fought with distinction in the European theater. He received the Silver Star for gallantry and the Purple Heart for wounds sustained, during the Battle of the Bulge. He was recognized for having saved a fellow soldier's life by commandeering an enemy ambulance. Bragg's name was one of thousands submitted by the public before officials decided to name the base Fort Liberty instead of naming it after an individual. The renaming took effect on 14 February 2025. The cost of the second name change is estimated to be between $6 million and $8 million.
