The reopening, highlighted by a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday afternoon, introduced new features such as a self-service kiosk designed to speed up transactions and reduce wait times.
"Coming off of first deployment, I came back, and it was gone," said Garrison Command Colonel Chad Mixon, U.S. Army. Mixon said the presence of a DMV office on post is a significant relief for soldiers. "A lot of us relied on that place because it was so important and so beneficial to the soldiers. We didn't have to go to stand off in the long lines off post."
The original DMV at Fort Bragg opened in 2016 with four employees and operated out of the Soldier Support Center. Since its closure, service members have had to travel to DMVs in nearby communities, such as Raeford, where wait times often run for hours.
Gov. Josh Stein, who attended the reopening, emphasized the importance of bringing DMV services back to the installation.
"Fort Bragg is the most populous Army base in the entire world. And these folks, they keep us safe. They are deployed all across the world. We owe it as a state to do everything we can to make all of their lives better in whatever way we can," Stein said.
Stein noted that the return of the DMV to the post could also bolster the local economy and create new jobs in the area.
"We have more people to hire. We're going to be hiring folks. We had an appropriation from the General Assembly so we can add a few dozen more driver's license examiners."
Service members and their families can once again access DMV services at Fort Bragg starting Tuesday, with the added convenience of checking wait times online.
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