Panel recommends renaming Fort Bragg, eight other ‘Confederate’ bases

Fort Bragg is getting a new name. Only five score and four years too late.

A Pentagon panel has given its recommendations to rename Army bases named after Confederate figures.

Fort Bragg, the most high profile of the installations, is set to become Fort Liberty, if the panel’s recommendations are accepted. The fort is currently named after a former Confederate general.

Fort Bragg is seen on Feb. 3, 2022, in Fort Bragg, N.C. (Chris Seward/)

The Defense Department commission is tasked with giving the bases names “that evoke confidence in all who serve,” according to Army Times.

“During many conversations within the commission, with installation personnel, civic leaders, and communities, we sought to find names that would be inspirational to the soldiers and civilians who serve on our Army posts, and to the communities who support them,” retired Adm. Michelle Howard, chairwoman of the commission, said in a statement.

“We realized quickly that we had more heroes than we did bases to name. And we were overwhelmed with the greatness of the American soldier — from those who gave their entire adult lives to the Army, to those who sacrificed themselves in valorous acts.”

Of the recommendations, only Fort Liberty will not named after a person.

Fort Benning in Georgia will be named Fort Moore after Hal Moore, who received the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism in Vietnam, and his wife Julia Moore, a military families advocate.

Fort Gordon, also in Georgia, will be named Fort Eisenhower, the former president and Army general.

Fort A.P. Hill, in North Carolina, will be dubbed Fort Walker, after the Army’s first female surgeon Dr. Mary Walker.

Texas’ Fort Hood is set to be called Fort Cavazos, after Gen. Richard Cavazos, who also received the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism in Vietnam and was the first four-star general with Latino roots.

Fort Lee in Virginia will be renamed after Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg, who helped the Army end its segregation policy and is the only still-living person to be honored with a fort name, and Lt. Col. Charity Adams, one of the highest-ranking female soldiers during World War II.

Fort Pickett, also in Virginia, was recommended to be renamed after World War II Medal of Honor recipient Tech. Sgt. Van T. Barfoot, who was of Native American ancestry, while Louisiana’s Fort Polk will be renamed after Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. William Henry Johnson.

Fort Rucker, in Alabama, will be named after a Medal of Honor recipient, as well: Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael J. Novosel Sr.

Congress passed bipartisan legislation in 2021 to rename the forts by 2023. The final list of names must be approved by Congress and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.