We now know the potential new name that Fort Bragg could get in the coming years, as The Naming Commission has released its list of 87 possible names for the nine Army installations set to be renamed.
The Naming Commission is the group of individuals that Congress tasked with coming up with a plan for renaming all of the military installations that commemorate the Confederacy. Those nine bases: Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Bragg, NC; Fort Rucker, Alabama; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia; Fort Lee, Virginia; and Fort Pickett, Virginia.
After listening sessions at each installation, and additional public feedback, The Commission got more than 34,000 submissions, including 3,670 unique names. Internal commission discussions narrowed that pool down to the list below. The large majority of the names are legendary American icons, like Dwight Eisenhower, George Marshall, Audie Murphy, Harriet Tubman and a whole host of Medal of Honor recipients.
“It’s important that the names we recommend for these installations appropriately reflect the courage, values and sacrifices of our diverse military men and women,” said retired Navy Adm. Michelle Howard, the chair of the Naming Commission. “We also are considering the local and regional significance of names and their potential to inspire and motivate our service members.”
The Commission is set to deliver a report to Congress later this year that outlines all the costs associated with a name change, as well as the ways it all needs to happen. The plan is currently required to be implemented around the beginning of 2024 at the earliest.
“Following upcoming engagements with installation leaders, personnel and their counterparts in local communities to discuss the names, the Commission will select the final names for recommendation in the naming plan due to Congress by Oct. 1, 2022.”
So here’s all the names they’ve put together. It’s likely one of these will be the new name of Fort Bragg eventually.
Omar Bradley
General Omar Bradley (1893 – 1981, left) of the US Army tours Paris in France after the liberation of the city during World War II, 28th August 1944. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
More on Omar Bradley here.
Alwyn Cashe
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 16: Tamara Cashe (L), widow of the late Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, accepts the Medal of Honor on his behalf from U.S. President Joe Biden during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House December 16, 2021 in Washington, DC. Sgt. Cashe died when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device during a night patrol on Oct. 17, 2005, near Samarra, Iraq. He rescued six soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter from the burning vehicle while the enemy was shooting at the unit. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
More on Alwyn Cashe here.
Bruce Crandall & Ed Freeman
WASHINGTON – FEBRUARY 26: U.S. President George W. Bush (R) presents the Medal of Honor to Army Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Crandall (Ret.) (C) as Crandall’s wife Arlene (L) looks on during a ceremony at the East Room of the White House February 26, 2007 in Washington, DC. Crandall was awarded with the medal for his brave actions during the Battle of Ia Drang Valley in the Vietnam war. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
More on Bruce Crandall here and Ed Freeman here.
Dwight Eisenhower
9th July 1942: Newly-promoted Lieutenant-General Dwight D Eisenhower (1890 – 1969), supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe, and later 34th President of the United States of America. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
More on President Eisenhower here.
Robert Howard
CHICAGO – SEPTEMBER 15: Vietnam veteran and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Robert Howard chats with other Medal of Honor recipients prior to the opening ceremony for the Medal of Honor Society Convention September 15, 2009 in Chicago, Illinois. The Medal of Honor is the highest military honor awarded for bravery on the battlefield. There are currently 95 living Medal of Honor Recipients. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
More on Robert Howard, the most highly decorated officer of Vietnam, here.
Hal & Julia Moore
Actor Mel Gibson and Lutenant General Hal Moore arrive at the premiere of the movie “We Were Soldiers” February 25, 2002 in Westwood, CA. (Photo by J. Emilio Flores/Getty Images)
More on Hal and Julia Moore here. (Made famous in “We Were Soldiers”)
Audie Murphy
June 1945: Lieutenant Audie L Murphy (1924 – 1971) after being presented with the US Congressional Medal of Honour and the Legion Of Merit. He won every medal of valour that the United States had to offer by 20 years of age and went on to become an actor mainly in low budget cowboy movies. (Photo by Horace Abrahams/Keystone/Getty Images)
More on Audie Murphy here.
Colin Powell
Former Gen. Colin Powell (Ret.) onstage at A Capitol Fourth concert at the U.S. Capitol, West Lawn, on July 4, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Capital Concerts)
More on Colin Powell here.
Tibor Rubin
U.S. President George W. Bush (R) and Corporal Tibor Rubin pause in a moment of silence during a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House September 23, 2005 in Washington DC. Rubin, a Holocaust survivor born in Hungry, served in the U.S. Army and served in the Korean War received the Nation?s highest honor for his courageous actions during the war. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
More on Tibor Rubin here.
Harriet Tubman
A recently-found photograph of escaped slave, abolitionist and Union spy Harriet Tubman that was acquired by the Smithsonian is displayed before a hearing of the House Administration Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill June 17, 2015 in Washington, DC. Auburn, New York, photographer H. Seymour Squyer made the photograph around 1885. Born into slavery, Tubman used a network of antislavery activists and safe houses known at the Underground Railroad to help lead about 13 missions to rescue about 70 enslaved family and friends. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
More on Harriet Tubman here.
