Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM JULY 22-28, 2020 UCW 9 Fort Bragg's name debate continues by JEFF THOMPSON e U.S. military's top commander has described Confederate lead- ers as traitors and said he is taking a "hard look" at renaming 10 Army installations that honor them, despite President Trump's opposition. "e Confederacy was an act of treason at the time, against the Union, against the Stars and Stripes, against the U.S. Constitution and those officers turned their backs on their oath," the Chair- man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, told members of the House Armed Services Committee. "For the young soldiers that go onto a base — a Fort Hood or Fort Bragg ... or a fort wherever named after a Confederate general — they can be reminded that that general fought for the institution of slavery that may have enslaved their ances- tors," he said. Last month, Trump rejected calls to rename installations after Defense Secretary Mark Esper signaled a willingness to do so, saying his ad- ministration will not even consider that plan. Milley stopped short of offering a policy prescription for how to handle the installation names, which has become a flashpoint at the Pentagon, as the nation grapples with the his- tory of racism in the wake of George Floyd's death by police in May. e installations, all in southern states, were named with input from influ- ential residents during the Jim Crow era following reconstruction. e Army agreed because it needed large swaths of land to build bases during the military buildup of World War I. at decision was political, Milley told lawmakers, and renaming the installa- tions would also be a political move. Two of the Army's biggest instal- lations are named after Confeder- ate commanders and avowed white supremacists. Fort Bragg, the head- quarters of Army Airborne and Special Forces troops, bears the name of Gen. Braxton Bragg, a commander often assailed as one of the most bumbling Confederate commanders in the war. He was a native of North Carolina. Fort Benning, Georgia, the home of Army infantry and airborne training, is named after Brig. Gen. Henry Ben- ning, who laid out the protection of slavery as the motivation for secession in a speech in 1861. Gen. Milley served as Forces Com- mand's Commanding General before being named Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Forces Command has been headquartered at Fort Bragg since 2011, when it and the Army Reserve Command moved to Fort Bragg from Fort MacPherson, Georgia, which was closed under Federal Base Realignment and Closure legislation. FORSCOM's subordinate units in- clude five headquarters led by lieu- tenant generals — the Army Reserve Command, 1st Army, I Corps, III Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps — and nine division headquarters, led by major generals. FORSCOM pre- pares conventional forces to provide a sustained flow of trained and ready capabilities available to combatant commanders in defense of the nation at home and abroad. It has direct authority over all continental United States conventional units of the ac- tive Army, and oversight of much of Army Reserve and Army National Guard units. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley supports changing Fort Bragg's name. NEWS *Some restrictions and limitations may apply. Subject to credit approval and credit history. MAIN OFFICE 2917 VILLAGE DRIVE, FAYET TEVILLE D OWNTOWN 201 HAY STREET, FAYET TEVILLE SP OUT SPRINGS 1570 HWY. 87/24, CAMERON Apply Online for an Auto Loan at BraggMutualLoans.org Equal Credit Opportunity Lender START YOUR ENGINES with LOW MONTHLY PAYMENTS Text the word LOAN to the number 88000 ALL TOGETHER NOW. We've been hard at work reporting the latest news and informing you about a pandemic that's disrupted everyone's lives. We're proud of our brand of trusted journalism. Now, as our nation looks to reopen, rebound and resurge, our advertising representatives are here to help your business. Hire us to help get your customers back and your employees ready. Nobody cares more about your success than us. No one has an engaged audience like ours. Our growth online, combined with print, is impressive as more readers turn to us for local news. Newspapers are your best investment. We care about local. NEWSPAPER POWER. Print, Digital & Social Solutions for your advertisers. Design by Metro Creative Graphics, Inc. www.upandcomingweekly.com Design by Metro Creative Graphics, Inc.