Former commander: Candidates' claims to revert Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg unlikely
Republican candidates visiting North Carolina over the weekend said that, if elected, they would change Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg.
But it's not likely to be a promise they could actually keep.
Over the weekend, presidential candidates Mike Pence and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made those claims to the GOP base during rallies in North Carolina. But, whether they can make that happen under an Executive Order from the president remains to be seen.
"We will end the political correctness in the hallways of the Pentagon and North Carolina will once again will once again be home to Fort Bragg," said Pence.
They were words used to fire up the Republican base, and they did just that.
"And also look forward to as president of restoring the name of Fort Bragg to our great military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina," said DeSantis.
"I'm not an expert on executive privilege but I would assume he has a lot of latitude under executive orders," said former Fort Bragg commander Dan McNeill. "But I'd have to ask a question. Why would he or she want to do that?"
McNeill served on the committee that eventually selected Fort Liberty as the new name for the largest military installation in the country.
The name was changed in an effort by the US Military to confront racial injustice in the aftermath of George Floyd's death. The base was named after a Confederate Army general.
McNeill says the process to find the right name was exhaustive and sometimes contentious.
It was part of the Defense Authorization Act of 2021.
"It seems trite to say diverse," McNeil said. "But it was an extraordinary diverse crowd of diverse interest as well. everyone had a focus that this naming convention had to occur. This is not just some frivolous thing. We are following the letter of the law."
As the 2024 presidential campaign gets crowded with Republican candidates, the search is on to find the right catch phrases to separate them from the pack. Some political experts say changing Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg shouldn't be a part of the conversation.
"In this case, we know that it won't take the president alone renaming a military base," said Marcus Bass with Advance Carolina. "Just one of this whole series and sequences of committee hearings and conversations about renaming sites that were named after confederate soldiers. In this case, it's dead on arrival."
