FORT LIBERTY, NC (AP) – President Joe Biden traveled to the newly renamed Fort Liberty in North Carolina on Friday to sign an executive order aimed at strengthening employment opportunities for military spouses and veterans.
Less than 100 miles away at the state’s Republican Party convention, GOP presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to restore the base’s old name, which until last week was ‘ named Fort Bragg after a Confederate general, if voters elect him president.
What you need to know
President Joe Biden visited Fort Liberty on Friday to sign an executive order aimed at helping military and veterans’ families
Fort Liberty was renamed Fort Bragg last week as part of a Defense Department effort to rename bases after Confederate figures.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also in North Carolina on Friday for the state GOP convention in Greensboro, called for the restoration of the old name of Fort Liberty.
The North Carolina Republican Convention continues today, with former Vice President Mike Pence and former President Donald Trump
“It’s an iconic name and an iconic base, and we’re not going to let political correctness run rampant in North Carolina,” DeSantis told the convention in Greensboro hours after Biden’s speech and signing ceremony at Fort Liberty.
The facility’s former name honors General Braxton Bragg, a North Carolinian known for owning slaves and losing key Civil War battles that contributed to the downfall of the Confederacy. Biden made no mention in his remarks to hundreds of soldiers and their spouses of the base’s name change that military officials formally made last week.
The base’s name change was part of it a broader effort by the US military to address racial injustice following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020. Last year, an independent commission recommended new names for Bragg and eight other the army that Confederate officers commemorated.
The recent name change played no role in selecting the base to serve as the backdrop for Biden to announce his executive order, according to an administration official who was not authorized to comment and spoke on condition of anonymity of anonymity
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The installation is the largest U.S. military base by population, with about 47,000 active duty soldiers.
In addition to DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former President Donald Trump, the current GOP front-runner, are scheduled to address delegates Saturday at the state convention in Greensboro. Trump, who has been accused of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, is also scheduled to speak at the Georgia Republican Party convention on Saturday.
The order Biden signed Friday directs agencies to develop a federal governmentwide strategic plan on recruitment and retention of military spouses; strengthen childcare options; improve data collection on spouses, caregivers, and military survivors and veterans in the federal workforce; and more than a dozen additional actions.
In remarks shortly before signing the order, Biden noted that the United States next month will mark 50 years of the all-volunteer force, which the president proclaimed the “greatest fighting force in the history of the world, except none”.
“The reason we’ve been able to maintain this strength year after year, decade after decade, is because spouses, caregivers and military survivors have also answered the call,” Biden said. “You have the back of your loved ones, just as they have the back of the country.”
Biden was accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, whose “Joining Forces” initiatives focus on helping military families. He said that while the new executive order is a step forward, employers must also do their part by hiring military spouses and offering support to their families.
“Spouses bring experience and adaptability that really can’t be taught,” said Jill Biden. “And when they have the opportunities they deserve, our service members can fulfill their duty knowing that those they love most can thrive.”
The order was largely framed by conversations through the first lady’s initiative, which aims to support families, caregivers and survivors of members of the U.S. military, Jill Biden said in a call with journalists who anticipated the order.
With nearly one in five military families citing challenges with a spouse’s employment as a reason for considering leaving active duty, the problem is no small one for the military’s recruiting and training efforts, according to the White House. More than 16,000 military spouses work within the federal government.
“We are calling on agencies to make it easier for spouses employed by the federal government to take administrative leave, telecommute and relocate,” the first lady said. “We are creating resources to support entrepreneurs. And the executive order helps agencies and companies retain military spouses through telecommuting or when they move overseas.”
Before their visit to Fort Liberty, the Bidens toured and met with students at Nash Community College in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The school is part of a coalition that received $23.7 million to train students for clean energy jobs from Biden. $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
Biden said the job training effort is part of a strategy to “once again make us the most competitive nation in the world.”
