Braxton Braggs about his Confederacy

When I complain about the United States military industrial complex, more specifically training at Fort Braxton Bragg, pilots buzz my house.  Maybe you have seen a video clip of the son of an outspoken anti-war activist, who explained that as his mother was holding her baby on the roof of their building pilots would buzz her.  Buzzing the tower is what Maverick, in the film Top Gun, liked to do.  It was not met with approval, and I do not think Gen. Mark A. Milley would approve of the strafing of our neighborhood.  Ironically we consist of capable, worthy, diligent military men.  Lieutenant Colonel Scott White, Major Blake Bowles, and Sgt. Aaron Rabensburg form a perimeter around our home.  Why would I feel threatened in any way?  Not that long ago the yard man working on the Rabensburg's lawn was victimized.  A trolling, dark colored, two door Honda targeted his locked equipment trailer.  While he was away from it working in their back yard, thieves crept up, snipped the padlock, and stole his gear.  He is out of business.  Not that long ago a gold colored, enclosed, O.J. like pick up with a heart sticker on the back window also was trolling our neighborhood streets.  Finally I put the sound of its failing muffler to this offending vehicle, because he was attracted to the sound of music coming from my garage at late hours in the evening.  I looked out, and he was sitting in front of my house with that same rumbling muffler.  I had heard this vehicle for several years and knew instinctively it was problematic for our neighborhood.  With a small amount of effort I was able to identify it, and its sound on Edgewater Dr. was the indicator that this person-of-interest was responsible for their vehicle break ins.  I called the police, and dutifully they said they would stop and question the driver of this vehicle.  Since then I only have seen it once on our street.  Thanks to the Fayetteville Police Department for that service.  With such a military presence and now a remote gunner in our midst, I would think "buzzing our neighborhood" taboo.  Low flying aircraft are a part of the military's core of operations.  Camp Lejeune often has said they want to establish a relationship with those living in close proximity to their base, because low flying aircraft are a critical part of their daily routine.  Having lived in "DaVille" most of my life, I am not unfamiliar with the activity at Fort Braxton Bragg.  I think it would be a breath of fresh air to change the name of the nation's largest military installation.  A qualifying reason to do so, is because Fort Bragg is not the same.   Life in the "The Ville" in the 1980's was a different affair.  This was before Base Realignment and Closure decided to make the post the host of Ground Forces Command.  There are many high profile installations at Fort Bragg including the Special Forces and the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.  The once active Patriot Missile site near Cliffdale Road now is housing for on duty paratroopers.  Drastically things have changed at Fort Bragg, and it bears little resemblance to its former self.  After 9/11 they upgraded the rail weight from 90 pounds per yard to 110.  Evidently munitions are getting heavier, or is it the locomotives?  Fort Bragg could use a new title, and although covert operations are important, why would anyone feel any threat from a more accurate and descriptive title for the post?  I would think the largest military installation in the nation would be the most secure. We do not have a solid rock mountain in which to encase their operational headquarters.  People began to question the amount of dirt that was being taken out of the post in dump trucks.  One only has to look at a Google map to see the underground ammo dumps, and it has become urban legend that munition trains are being loaded underneath the ground.  So what?  Again I would think this place would be the safest in the country, and maybe it is.  Those who live on the fringes outside its gates, along its perimeter, purposely are kept misinformed to ensure national security.  This did not used to be the case.  Fort Bragg once was open to the public.  There were no issues with security, and this was before 9/11, a convenient foreign terrorist assault on America perpetrated by Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salma, also responsible for the assasination of Jamal Khashoggi.  Is it logical as I sit here and write potentially inflammatory opinions that my life is in be in danger?  This is an extreme statement, and considering our ever present garrison of trained Army officers I feel no threat.  What I do resent is low flying aircraft strafing my yard.  I'll say it again.  Today, Sunday, beginning at 6:30 a.m. a low flying possible Cessna aircraft equipped with a muffler trolls our neighborhood.  Fully I understand that pilots practice "touch and goes" at Grannis Field on Sundays.  What better time could there be than the Sabboth?  Most affluent Fayetteville citizens travel to more appealing destinations for their weekends including the beach and the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The fringe population of "DaVille" is  littered with gang bangers, drug dealers, and murderers.  Could there be other more notable residents?  As the strains of Keith Jarret waft through my room and the temperature scorches the earth outside, I recall the garrison commander at Fort Braxton Bragg was relieved of duty, because he failed to mitigate the housing crisis on the post.  What is a garrison anyway?  I didn't know, but now I understand that a garrison is set of troops assigned to defend a particular locale.  It seems this garrison at Fort Bragg, who is assigned to live on post and protect it from within is not so happy about their housing.  The artillery and its accompanying equipment still flow to the Middle East like wine through Sunny Point.  Because I have lost my thread I will say a more appropriate name would cleanse the image of Fort Bragg, a military installation often that perpetuates violent local crime.  United States Military Headquarters Cumberland County comes to mind.  The name Braxton Bragg in no way signifies the importance or specific role of the Army's presence in Cumberland County.  Instead like America's other confederate war monuments this name casts a long lasting shadow on what should be an exemplary and progressive Department of Defense post.