DestinationFAY

1 FORT WHAT? Fort Bragg is named for North Carolina native and Mexican- American War hero Braxton Bragg. But it's Bragg's later career as a general in the Confederate Army that is driving a search for a new name for the historic Army post. In May, the Naming Commission recommended Fort Liberty as the new name for Fort Bragg. The commission recommended names for eight other Army posts as well. The plan to rename those installatins next goes to Congress for its consideration. 2 FORT WHERE? It's hard to imagine Fayetteville or the North Carolina Sandhills without the looming presence of Fort Bragg. But that was a distinct possibility in the early 1920s, as the Army looked to shutter several training posts that were built during World War I. It was largely the effort of Brig. Gen. Albert Bowley, who commanded Bragg from 1921 until 1928, that saved what was then Camp Bragg and helped lay the foundation for the modern-day post. Bowley would later tell historians his efforts were "politics both Army and civil" that enlisted the aid of local and state leaders to secure the installation's future. 3 FORT RARE. Fort Bragg is home to several endangered and rare plants and animals. The most notable is the red-cockaded woodpecker, the presence of which threatened the post's existence in the early 1990s and spurred a conservation effort that has been repeatedly praised for helping protect both military training and the small, palm-sized birds. Other species that call Fort Bragg home include the St. Francis' Satyr butterfly — the only known population calls the post home — and the Venus flytrap, a rare carnivorous plant whose exact locations are a close-kept secret to protect them from poachers. 4 FORT BALL. Fort Bragg made history in the summer of 2018 when Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association partnered to host the first regular-season professional sports matchup on an active military base. The Miami Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves 5-2 in the contest, which was broadcast on ESPN. While the grandstands were removed after the game, the field itself is still used by the Fort Bragg community. 5 FORT FOOD. Fort Bragg is home to nine dining facilities — including a soldier- run food truck launched in 2019 — and numerous other dining options meant to sustain more than 50,000 hungry soldiers each day. The busiest time of the year for Fort Bragg's food-service professionals is Thanksgiving, when hundreds of soldiers and civilians prepare thousands of pounds of turkey, beef and all the traditional trimmings of the holiday meal. VISITING FORT BRAGG There are numerous entry points to Fort Bragg, but if you don't have a military ID, your first stop will be the All American Visitor Control Center. The center, located where the All American Freeway meets Fort Bragg, is open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, including federal holidays. A government-issued ID card, proof of insurance and vehicle registration, as well as a valid reason for entering the installation are required. Hours of operation for Fort Bragg's other gates are: • Longstreet Road Access Control Point: 24/7 • Chicken Road ACP: 24/7 • Reilly Road ACP: 24/7 • Yadkin Road ACP: 24/7 • All American Freeway ACP: 24/7 • Canopy Lane ACP: 5 a.m.-9 p.m. Closed weekends and federal holidays. • Knox Street ACP: Closed to all traffic. The neighboring Knox Street Truck Plaza is open only to commercial vehicles and is open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekends and federal holidays. • Knox Street East ACP: 5 a.m.-1 p.m. Closed weekends and federal holidays. • Honeycutt Road ACP: 24/7 • Randolph Road ACP: 24/7 • Butner Road ACP: 5 a.m.-9 p.m. Closed weekends and federal holidays. • Manchester Road ACP: 5 a.m.-9 p.m. Closed weekends and federal holidays. • Simmons Army Airfield ACP: 24/7 • Linden Oaks ACP: 24/7 FIVE FACTS ABOUT FORT BRAGG 82nd Airborne Division deployment PHOTO BY TONY WOOTEN Paratroopers take the field in mass formation during the 82nd Airborne Division Review on Sicily Drop Zone on May 25, 2017. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. L'Erin Wynn) 42 DestinationFAY 2022-2023

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