WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has officially ordered the restoration of the name Fort Bragg for a prominent special operations base in North Carolina, announcing that further name changes are on the horizon.
Speaking from Germany, Hegseth indicated that this action might signal a significant shift away from the Biden administration’s efforts in 2023 to rename military installations that honored Confederate leaders. This could lead to a complex and potentially costly process that might confront legal challenges.
“As the president has indicated, and I have echoed, we are not finished with this,” Hegseth commented when queried about reversing the base’s name from Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg. He emphasized, “I never referred to it as Fort Liberty because it wasn’t. It has always been Fort Bragg.”
He further highlighted that the original name honors the legacy of the soldiers who served there, expressing regret over the previous change. Hegseth pointedly mentioned his reference to both Fort Bragg and Fort Benning—another Army installation in Georgia recently renamed Fort Moore—on his first day at the Pentagon.
“There are additional bases that have undergone renaming, which undermines that same legacy,” he noted. “It’s not confined to just Bragg and Benning; numerous service members have ties to these designations. We intend to do everything possible to restore these names.”
The North Carolina base was named Fort Liberty in 2023, originally honoring Gen. Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general from Warrenton, North Carolina, notorious for his slave ownership and for suffering critical losses in the Civil War that contributed to the Confederate defeat.
Hegseth plans to rename the base in honor of Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, recognized as a World War II hero with a Silver Star and Purple Heart awarded for bravery during the Battle of the Bulge.
This decision circumvents a law that prohibits military bases from being named after Confederate leaders, paving the way for the Defense Department to seek similar renaming options for the other eight Army bases previously rebranded, combing through extensive military records for service members who share the same last names.
Hegseth’s move has met with some dissent from Congressional leaders. Senator Jack Reed, D-R.I., has labeled it a “cynical maneuver” that contravenes the spirit of the legislation and reflects a preoccupation with cultural conflicts rather than prioritizing the needs of service members and their families.
“What’s worse, he has offended the Gold Star families who were supportive of Fort Liberty’s designation, degrading himself by linking Private Bragg’s honorable legacy with that of a Confederate traitor,” expressed Reed, the leading Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a statement.
The renaming of Fort Bragg could also be perceived as diminishing the legacies of other distinguished service members whose names currently adorn Army installations. For example, Fort Gordon in Georgia was rechristened Fort Eisenhower in honor of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who commanded Allied forces in Europe during World War II.
Meanwhile, Fort Moore is named after Lt. Gen. Harold Gregory Moore Jr., awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his valor in the Vietnam War’s Battle of Ia Drang.
Army officials have yet to determine the financial implications of reverting the base’s name back to Fort Bragg.
On Tuesday, the Army revealed preliminary service records for Pfc. Bragg, detailing his birth in Webster, Maine, and his service as a toxic gas handler between July 1943 and November 1945. He is reported to have deployed to England from August 1944 to August 1945, concluding his service with the rank of private first class.
Bragg’s honors include the World War II Victory Medal, the Silver Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze stars, a Parachute Badge, and a Combat Infantry Badge.
In a video announcement regarding the renaming, Hegseth stated, “That’s right. Bragg is back!”
Despite the official title change, the base has continued to be popularly referred to as Bragg, indicating the former name’s enduring presence.
Implementing this name alteration may incur additional costs as the Trump administration seeks to streamline government spending through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
According to a 2022 assessment from the base renaming commission, reverting Bragg’s name—accounting for signage changes, vehicle repainting, and various related expenditures—was estimated to cost at least $6.3 million. By 2023, projected total expenses had risen to approximately $8 million.