US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Photo: Collected

WASHINGTON, Feb 11, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday changed the name of the country's largest military base back to Fort Bragg, undoing a change that dropped the moniker of a pro-slavery Confederate general. 

"Bragg is back!" Hegseth posted on social media site X after signing the order. 

"I direct the army to change the name of Fort Liberty North Carolina to Fort Bragg North Carolina," he said in a video.

A statement from the defense department said the base had been named after Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, "a World War II hero... for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge."

The decision scrapped a move by President Donald Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, to rename the base -- one of a series of US military installations that removed the names of figures who supported the South in the 1861-1865 US Civil War.

Fort Bragg had been named in 1918 for Braxton Bragg, an inept Confederate general who was relieved of command after his defeat in the 1863 Battle of Chattanooga.

The Trump administration has taken aim at other name changes implemented under Democratic presidents, including reverting the name of Denali, America's highest peak, to its former moniker Mt. McKinley.

In 2015, then-president Barack Obama officially recognized the Alaska mountain as Denali, the name used by Alaska Natives for centuries.