Fort Bragg FCU to Become Fort Liberty FCU

Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union of Fayetteville, N.C., will be changing its name in July, dropping its reference to Confederate general Braxton Bragg.

Fort Bragg FCU ($573.1 million in assets, 39,507 members) will become Fort Liberty Federal Credit Union on July 1, following the June 2 name change of the army base whose personnel it was formed to serve.

The Army decided last year to change the names of eight bases that were named for Confederate generals, with Fort Bragg becoming Fort Liberty.

The Fort Bragg Army base was established in 1918 and named for Bragg (1817-1876), who was considered one of the Confederacy’s least competent military leaders. Whatever Bragg’s reputation, the base became known for training some of the Army’s most storied units, including the 82nd Airborne Division and Special Forces units.

The credit union’s news release made no reference to the name change of the base or the Confederate general.

“We are fortunate to have the opportunity to include ‘Liberty’ in our new name,” President/CEO Todd Kenthack said. “The ‘Fort Bragg’ name has served us very well over the last 63 years since our credit union was chartered in April of 1960 as the Fort Bragg Military Credit Union. The ‘Fort Liberty’ name will allow us to continue to recognize and honor our history while communicating our continued financial strength and stability in the communities we serve.”

Two other credit unions that served Army bases now being renamed were acquired over the past 20 years by PenFed Credit Union of Tysons, Va. ($35.5 billion in assets, 2.8 million members).

PenFed acquired Fort Hood Military Federal Credit Union in 2003, which then had $28 million in assets and 5,939 members. Fort Gordon and Community Credit Union ended 2015 with $65.9 million in assets and 6,069 members before being acquired by PenFed.

Fort Hood, between Dallas and Austin, was named after John Bell Hood in 1942. The Army will rename it May 9 as Fort Cavazos in honor of Gen. Richard Edward Cavazos, a Texas-born hero of the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Fort Gordon, near Augusta, Ga., was named after John Bell Gordon (1832-1904) in 1917. In October it will be renamed Fort Eisenhower after Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), the World War II general and two-term president. The base already has a medical center named after Eisenhower.

Two other name changes occurred this week:

• Alaska USA Federal Credit Union, Anchorage, ($11.8 billion in assets, 761,753 members) on Monday became Global Federal Credit Union. The name change was announced in January after Alaska USA acquired Global Credit Union of Spokane, Wash., along with its field of membership open to anyone working in the U.S. Department of Defense. The Spokane credit union had $624.6 million in assets and 46,323 members in June 2022.
• OCUL Services Corporation (OSC), the for-profit entity of the Ohio Credit Union League that serves credit unions in Ohio and surrounding states, rebranded Monday as Navatros. It provides compliance, risk management, lending, payments, digital experience, human resources and other services.

“Since 1966, the OCUL Services Corporation has served Ohio credit unions and their members with products and services that put the needs of people, families and businesses first,” Laura Auxter, chief revenue officer, said. “Navatros will more clearly signal the continuous commitment to helping partners and clients navigate a better and brighter business course to further serve the financial needs of communities and consumers everywhere.”