'' by
Donald De Lue (1968) at Fort Bragg
World War I 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 () 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, 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. 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.
Cold War 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 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.
Name changes 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. ==Tenant units==