Fort Bragg
United States Army installation; census designated place in North Carolina
Fort Bragg (renamed Fort Liberty from 2023 to 2025) is a U.S. Army military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 military personnel.
Covering more than 251 square miles (650 km2), Fort Bragg is home to the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps and serves as the headquarters of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, which oversees the 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) and the 75th Ranger Regiment. Additionally, it hosts the 82nd Airborne Division, United States Army Western Hemisphere Command, U.S. Army Reserve Command, and Womack Army Medical Center. Fort Bragg also operates two airfields: Pope Field, where the U.S. Air Force stations global airlift and special operations units, as well as the Air Force Combat Control School, and Simmons Army Airfield, which supports Army aviation units for airborne and special operations missions.
The installation was originally named for Confederate general Braxton Bragg. In 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense renamed the installation "Fort Liberty" due to controversy surrounding memorials to Confederate leaders. In February 2025, the U.S. Army changed the name of the installation back to "Fort Bragg", but in honor of World War II paratrooper Roland L. Bragg instead of the Confederate general.
History
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.
The public source identifies “Fort Bragg” as united States Army installation; census designated place in North Carolina. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fort, Bragg and United.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q991369. VIAF identifies the subject as 152491269. The Library of Congress control number is n84047562. Authority coordinates are 35.139, -78.999. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2023, 2025 and 1918.
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This entry incorporates text from “Fort Bragg” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.