Fort Bragg and Beyond: North Carolina’s Position as the Most Military Friendly State

Thank you for joining us this Saturday morning. 

North Carolina is home to the largest military base in the world. Spanning 250 square miles, Fort Bragg is headquarters for a multitude of U.S. Army units, including U.S. Army Forces Command, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, the XVIII Airborne Corps, and the storied 82nd Airborne Division. Together, they comprise 50,000 active duty personnel on site.

It’s common knowledge that the defense sector is a major driver for North Carolina’s economy. But how big is it? And does a large active duty presence translate into a large veteran presence? We dive into that and more below. Thanks for reading.

***

With six major military installations and among the best public university systems in the country, North Carolina is a natural hub for a robust defense-sector economy, and the numbers bear that out.

According to the North Carolina Military Business Center, the Department of Defense has “an annual impact of $79.7 billion and is the second-largest sector of North Carolina’s economy [at] 12.8% GDP.” More than $7 billion in Department of Defense contracts were awarded to North Carolina entities in 2024 alone, according to the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.

Last year, NCInnovation – a nonprofit that deploys state-backed research grants to university applied researchers working on technologies with commercial potential – opened a new hub at Fayetteville State University, which is less than 10 miles from Fort Bragg. Chancellor Darrell Allison highlighted the partnership’s potential to “focus on defense and security innovations” relevant to the military.

Nearly one-in-ten North Carolinians are active service members or veterans, and the military’s presence in North Carolina is poised to grow further with the Army on track to smash its 2025 and 2026 recruitment targets. The federal government’s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, but by April – barely halfway through – the Army had already reached 85% of its goal.

This rapid rise in recruitment hasn’t happened overnight either, rather, it’s the result of a steady few years of growth. After failing to meet their recruitment quotas by roughly 15,000 troops in 2022 and 2023, the Army met its goal of 55,000 new recruits in 2024. Officials believe that totals will swell to north of 60,000 in 2026. 

Reasons abound for retired service members to stay in or return to North Carolina. In 2024, Forbes ranked Duke Energy and Bank of America among the best employers in the country for veterans. “These employers not only recruit veterans, but they also provide veterans with training opportunities, mentorship programs, paths to career advancement, and more,” Forbes reported. The year prior, just one state government made the list: the State of North Carolina. 

Support for military veterans – and efforts to solidify North Carolina’s place as the most military-friendly state in the country – are among the most bipartisan endeavors in state government. 

In 2021, for example, the legislature exempted military pensions and retirement pay from state income taxes. And the UNC System has an entire initiative dedicated to “educating members of the U.S. Armed Forces, veterans, and their families.” The country’s premier public university system developed an equivalency program for veterans to transfer their training and experience into academic credits.

Private universities, too, have deployed their own programs to support veterans. Lieutenant Colonel and professor Eleanor Morales, for example, runs Wake Forest University’s Veterans Legal Clinic, which helps low-income former service members navigate different health, federal & state benefits, and justice challenges.

And last month, Gov. Josh Stein publicized the HIRE Vets Medallion Award, which “recognizes companies for their support for our nation’s heroes, cementing North Carolina’s position as the most military-friendly state.”

Add it all together, and North Carolina is primed to accelerate its role as one of the nation’s leading contributors to defense technology and post-service engagement. North Carolina’s deep-rooted military presence, strong academic institutions, and bipartisan commitment to supporting veterans form the foundation of a defense economy that’s both strategically vital and socially impactful. North Carolina stands out as a national leader in military and defense readiness, and that will almost certainly continue well into the future.