Fort Bragg will redesignate to Fort Liberty this week. Here's what you should know

Rachael Riley, The Fayetteville Observer
·3 min read
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The sun will set on Fort Bragg on Thursday and rise on Fort Liberty on Friday.

The world’s most populated military installation will redesignate to Fort Liberty at the end of the week, following a sunset march Thursday.

The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act mandated the name changes of Department of Defense assets that commemorate the Confederacy.

Fort Bragg is currently named after North Carolina native Braxton Bragg, an artillery officer who fought in the Mexican-American War, was a Confederate general in the Civil War and was associated with being a slave owner.

Here’s the latest on what we know.

The Fort Bragg sign near Stryker Golf Course on Bragg Boulevard was one of the few remaining signs around the installation as of Wednesday, May 24, 2023.
The Fort Bragg sign near Stryker Golf Course on Bragg Boulevard was one of the few remaining signs around the installation as of Wednesday, May 24, 2023.

When is the redesignation?

A ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. Friday to rename Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty.

The ceremony will include the casing of Fort Bragg’s garrison colors and uncasing of Fort Liberty’s colors, according to a media advisory.

The event will be live-streamed on the Fort Bragg Paraglide Facebook page.

More: 'The past, the future and the present': How march will transition Bragg to Fort Liberty

More: 'We are abiding by that law:' Fort Bragg addresses Fort Liberty questions on website

When will signs be changed?

The Paraglide Facebook page, which is an information page for the installation, put out a call in March asking community members to submit designs for a new sign by April 21.

The sign is expected to be revealed during Friday’s redesignation ceremony.

On Monday, a tarp covered a structure near the All American gate and Fort Bragg Visitors Center that appeared to be the size of signs at other military installations.

The wooden sign after entering the All American Gate has been removed as has the sign on N.C. 24 toward Spring Lake.

In early May, garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Gregory Seymour Tweeted a photo of one of the Fort Bragg signs being removed.

As of Friday, the wooden sign near Stryker Golf Course appeared to be the few remaining signs on post but was covered by Tuesday.

When will Department of Transportation signs change?

As of April, the cost to replace overhead highway and directional signs maintained by the North Carolina Department of Transportation was estimated at $500,000, said Andrew Barksdale, a spokesman of the state Department of Transportation.

Barksdale said highway officials will proceed with a contract to make the changes after Friday’s ceremony.

Directional signs in the region along Interstates 95 and 295 should be replaced by the end of the year, he said.

Roads

During a March media round table, Fort Bragg leaders said nine roads on post named after Confederates would also be renamed.

Mosby Street was renamed Shachnow Lane last year after Maj. Gen. Sidney Shachnow, the only general officer in the Army to have survived the Holocaust and who served in Special Forces for more than 30 years.

Reilly Road on Fort Bragg was renamed to Rock Merritt Avenue shortly after officials announced in April that nine roads on post named after Confederates would change names.
Reilly Road on Fort Bragg was renamed to Rock Merritt Avenue shortly after officials announced in April that nine roads on post named after Confederates would change names.

Signs on post for Reilly Road also changed this year to Merrit Avenue after Kenneth “Rock” Merritt was a World War II and Vietnam veteran who jumped into Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944, and served during Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. Merritt served as the 18th Airborne Corps’ top senior enlisted adviser twice.

More: These 9 Fort Bragg roads will be renamed

Off-post roads and address changes

Officials have previously said that changing roads off post, such as Reilly Road and Bragg Boulevard, would require a Cumberland County stakeholder process for address and 911 purposes.

The matter has not appeared on Cumberland County Commissioners' agendas as a discussion item to date.

More: Are Cumberland, Fayetteville officials considering removing Bragg references?

More: Fort Bragg isn't the only one changing its name: Area businesses jump on the bandwagon

According to the Fort Liberty section of the Fort Bragg website, a change of address form does not need to be submitted for addresses that have had street name changes on post.

According to the site, officials are working with the U.S. Postal Service, which will “indefinitely recognize both new and old addresses.”

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-485-3528.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: What to know about Fort Bragg's redesignation to Fort Liberty this week

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