The Fort Bragg guide

• Fly into Fayetteville Regional (FAY), about 12 miles from post with a small terminal and limited flights, or Raleigh-Durham (RDU), about 75 minutes north via I-40 and US-401 or NC-87, which usually wins on fares and schedule. Rent a car either way; there is no useful transit to post.
• Visitors without a DoD ID get a pass at the All American Visitor Control Center, Building H-1575 on the All American Freeway outside ACP 5, open 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week, 910-907-5165. Bring a REAL ID-compliant license; U.S. citizens can pre-register online 24 hours ahead and vetted non-DoD visitors get passes good for up to six months.
• Gates open 24/7 as of the latest posted schedule: Long Street (ACP 1), Chicken Road (ACP 2), Yadkin Road (ACP 4), Honeycutt Road (ACP 10), R. Miller Road (ACP 11), Simmons Army Airfield (ACP 13) and Canopy Lane (ACP 19), plus the Linden Oaks access point. Confirm on the garrison access-control page before you plan a route.
• Weekday-only gates (5 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed weekends and federal holidays): Rock Merritt (ACP 3), Butner Road (ACP 12) and Manchester Road (ACP 18). Knox Street Truck Plaza (ACP 16) is commercial vehicles only. The All American Freeway gate (ACP 5) has been closed for a bridge replacement, so check its status; it is the main artery from downtown Fayetteville.
• After 9 p.m. non-DoD visitors receive a one-day temporary pass at the All American ACP and must return to the visitor center the next day. Foreign nationals need a DoD sponsor and 48 hours notice.
• Traffic stacks up on the All American Freeway, Bragg Boulevard and Yadkin Road from about 0530 to 0700 and 1630 to 1800. The I-295 outer loop now connects I-95 to the Spring Lake and Raeford Road sides of the city and is the fastest way around Fayetteville proper.

• Fort Bragg is one of the few Army posts with a full DoDEA school system on post: nine schools serving pre-K through 8th grade (for example Irwin Intermediate and Albritton Middle) in the DoDEA Americas Mid-Atlantic District, open to families living in on-post housing.
• High schoolers living on post attend Cumberland County Schools, which also serves families in Fayetteville, Hope Mills and Spring Lake; Jack Britt High and the schools on the west side are the most requested.
• Families in Harnett County (Cameron, Anderson Creek, Linden Oaks) use Harnett County Schools, and Moore County Schools covers Southern Pines, Aberdeen and Pinehurst, all with heavy military enrollment.
• Child Development Centers, school-age care and youth sports run through Fort Bragg Family and MWR; register in MilitaryChildCare.com early because CDC waits here are long.
• The Fayetteville area also has Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville Technical Community College and Methodist University for spouses and off-duty degree work, plus a large School Liaison office on post.

• Womack Army Medical Center is a full Army medical center with about 138 beds, a 24-hour emergency department, inpatient surgery, labor and delivery, behavioral health and graduate medical education residencies, supported by outlying health clinics on post.
• Fort Bragg is in the TRICARE East region, administered by Humana Military; enroll or transfer your PCM through Humana or the Womack patient portal as soon as you arrive.
• The main civilian hospital is Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, the region's largest hospital and trauma center; FirstHealth Moore Regional in Pinehurst serves the Southern Pines side.
• Womack runs a main outpatient pharmacy plus refill options; TDY travelers can fill prescriptions there or at any TRICARE network pharmacy in town.
• Dental for active duty is through the post dental clinics; families use TRICARE Dental Program providers off post.

Commissary & Exchange

A large main post Commissary and the Fort Bragg Main Exchange mall with food court and concessions, plus a South Post Exchange and several shoppettes and gas stations spread across a very big post

Fitness

Multiple Family and MWR fitness centers spread across main post, Smoke Bomb Hill and the Pope side, several with early and late hours; check bragg.armymwr.com for the current facility list and hours

Outdoor recreation

Smith Lake Recreation Area on post with a beach, camping and boat rentals, plus Outdoor Recreation equipment checkout; the post is surrounded by longleaf pine and sand hills good for running and mountain biking

Dining

Multiple dining facilities for meal-card holders and TDY students, an Exchange food court, the Iron Mike Conference Center and MWR clubs; Fayetteville's restaurant strip is Skibo Road and Bragg Boulevard

Legal & finance

Staff Judge Advocate legal assistance on main post for wills and powers of attorney, and Army Community Service financial readiness counseling at the Soldier Support Center

Chapel & pets

Several chapels with Catholic, Protestant and other services; the Fort Bragg Veterinary Center handles pet registration and basic care, and IHG Army Hotels has limited pet rooms, so ask when booking

1. 01Search for lodging and rentals under both Fort Bragg and Fort Bragg; listings, maps and older orders use whichever name was current when they were written.
2. 02Check the garrison access-control page before you pick a gate; the All American Freeway gate has been closed for bridge work and several gates close on weekends and holidays.
3. 03If you are here for SWCS, ask your cadre which side of post your course trains on before renting; Spring Lake and Harnett County are much closer to the north side and Camp Mackall routes than south Fayetteville.
4. 04Fly into RDU unless FAY has a direct flight that works; RDU is 75 minutes but usually far cheaper, and the drive down US-401 or NC-87 is easy.
5. 05The visitor center takes REAL ID-compliant licenses only; if yours is not compliant, bring a passport.
6. 06Book on-post lodging exactly 60 days out for course starts and major exercise windows, then get the Statement of Non-Availability if it is full.
7. 07Skibo Road traffic is worse than the gate traffic on weekends; stay on the I-295 loop to move between the north and south sides of the city.
8. 08Hurricane season is real here; Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018) both flooded parts of Fayetteville, so know your rental's flood exposure and keep a full tank in September.

More North Carolina guides

The Camp Lejeune guideJacksonville, North CarolinaThe Pope Field guideFayetteville, North CarolinaThe Seymour Johnson AFB guideGoldsboro, North Carolina