Less than a month after he was sworn in as the 47th US president, Donald Trump has turned the attention of his “war on woke” on a rather specific area – the US military bases that were renamed under the Biden tenure.
In total there were nine army posts that had been renamed in 2023 to remove titles redolent of the Civil War and to replace them with “more appropriate” military leaders. Fort Pickett was changed to Fort Barfoot; Fort Lee to Fort Gregg-Adams; Fort AP Hill to Fort Walker; Fort Hood to Fort Cavazos; Fort Rucker to Fort Novosel; Fort Polk to Fort Johnson; Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty; Fort Benning to Fort Moore; and Fort Gordon to Fort Eisenhower.
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The American Homefront Project, which reports on serving and veteran US servicemen and their families in an attempt to keep the military in the public eye, said in its Oct. 26, 2023, edition that the renaming of the bases was long overdue. It said that along with the removal of memorials commemorating the Confederacy it was finally addressing the “Lost Cause” myth, which had been gaining traction in recent times. The “Lost Cause” myth holds that the Civil War was a result of Northern aggression and downplayed the South’s defense of slavery.
During his election campaign Trump made reference to the issue and said if elected he would give back the original names to the affected the bases – even though the army had been considering the move during his first administration.
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In October 2024, during a town hall event in Fayetteville, less than 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the army’s largest post, Fort Liberty (previously called Fort Bragg) Trump said: “I’m doing it [returning the original name]… we did win two world wars from Fort Bragg, right? So, this is not a time to be changing names, and we’re going to do that. We’re going to do everything we can, and we’re going to get it back.”
The refrain was picked up by the newly appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth who signaled to reporters on Monday, his first day on the job, that the military bases renamed under the Biden administration would revert to their original names, two of which he used in his comments:
“Every moment that I’m here, I’m thinking about the guys and gals in Guam, in Germany, in Fort Benning and Fort Bragg, on missile defense sites and aircraft carriers. Our job is lethality and readiness and warfighting.”
He soon put his words into action when, as reported by the European Security and Defence (ESD) news site, later that same day: Hegseth, while flying to Europe to attend the Feb. 12 Ramstein Meeting in Brussels and the 2025 Munich Security Conference, posted a video on X that showed him signing a document before saying:
“There it is: pursuant to the authority of the Secretary of Defense, Title 10, US States Code Section 113, I direct the army to change the name of Fort Liberty, North Carolina, to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. That’s right: Bragg is back.”
The military base, home to home to the US Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps and the headquarters of US Army Special Operations Command, was named in honor of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg when it was originally created as an artillery training post in 1918.
However, as commentators on the war in Ukraine are fond of saying “there was a nuance.” A press release from the US Department of Defense (DoD) spokesman John Ullyot said:
“While flying aboard a C-17 from Joint Base Andrews to Stuttgart [on Feb. 10, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum renaming Fort Liberty in North Carolina to Fort Roland L. Bragg.
“The new name pays tribute to Pfc Roland L Bragg: a World War II hero who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge. This change underscores the installation’s legacy of recognizing those who have demonstrated extraordinary service and sacrifice for the nation.”
Whether the Trump camp will acknowledge the nuance or not, ESD suggests that while the reversion to the original name will prove popular with Trump’s supporters it will be interpreted by his opponents as a “dog whistle” to the US white supremacist vote that are among his most devoted followers.
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