Military timeline of installation first known as Camp Bragg
FORT LIBERTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The U.S. Army established Camp Bragg in 1918 as an artillery training ground that was part of the rapid expansion of the United States military for World War I.
It was named after Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, a West Point graduate and slave-owning plantation owner from Warrenton. What would become one of the nation's largest military installations held this name for more than 100 years.
In May of 2020, the death of George Floyd while in police custody sparked a racial reckoning. Many groups, companies, and public entities pledged their support for improving minority representation including diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
In 2021, the Pentagon under Democratic President Joe Biden announced an eight-person naming commission responsible for renaming all Department of Defense items that commemorate the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.
The group recommended Fort Bragg be changed to Fort Liberty, after one of America's core values.
Fort Bragg was among nine military installations that were renamed. The military said the estimated cost totaled $6.3 million to rename all of Fort Bragg's assets to Fort Liberty.
In June of 2023, a new era was born under the name of Fort Liberty. It was the only of nine military installations renamed after a value instead of a person.
On Feb. 10, 2025, in the first few weeks of Republican President Donald Trump's second term, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth restored the name of the Army post known as Fort Liberty since 2023.
"I direct the Army to change the name of Fort Liberty, North Carolina, to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. That's right. Bragg is back," said Hegseth.
There has been no word on when the Department of Defense is set to change the signs on post or how much it could cost.
The military installation will be renamed for Pfc. Roland Bragg, a native of Webster, Maine, and a Silver Star and Purple Heart recipient. He served in World War II in the Army from July 1943 to November 1945.
