FYP Learn About Bragg's Organizational Structure

Appropriately nicknamed, 'Center of the Military Universe', Fort Bragg has 55,000 personnel, making it the largest Army installation. Garrison Commander Col. Stephen J. Sicinski took time recently to educate Fayetteville Young Professionals about the base and its impact on their community.

Sicinski spoke at a June 15 luncheon to the members of the Fayetteville Young Professionals. He provided interesting factoids about the post as well as his job.

"Think of me as a city manager, or an unelected mayor with command authority," joked Sicinski as he introduced himself.

Fort Bragg currently has 18 General Officers and by the end of summer, on paper anyway, there will be 39 General Officers moving the installation into a distinctive category. 

Sicinski touched on the basic structure of Fort Bragg, explaining in detail the minutia to the mostly civilian crowd in attendance. After touching on the demographics of the population on Fort Bragg, he covered partnerships and fielded some questions from the crowd.

With more than 90,000 vehicles coming in and out of the gates to and from the post daily, it was the perfect segue way into the next topic of conversation: traffic.

To provide the mandated Force Protection Conditions (FP Con) needed to protect the four-star headquarters building that sits 3/4 of a mile from Bragg Boulevard, adjustments to the Murchison corridor along the eastern boundary of the post were required.

Construction is under way to link Bragg Boulevard, Murchison and the All-American Freeway to the 295 loop that Gov. Gary Ciccone recently approved. 

"We got the funding through the All-American, and that is a good news story," Sicinski said. 

 The Base Closure and Realignment initiative (BRAC) has produced more traffic congestion. Community leaders meet frequently with experienced analysts to solve the transportation issues that come along with rapid growth. 

And talk about expanding: Theresa Sicinski told the crowd that 10 babies are born each day at the Womack Army Medical Center, and incoming families bring upwards of 400 infants a month to the area. 

Sicinski humorously launched into another aspect of the birds and the bees, revealing that approximately nine months ago an influx of troops returned from their one-year deployments. A massive baby shower was held last week to celebrate 1,000 new and expectant Fort Bragg moms.

The luncheon closed with the Garrison Commander reminding the crowd of the importance of working together as a joint community and inviting them to use the recreational amenities that Fort Bragg has to offer.