To:

☆President Donald J. Trump

☆Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth

☆Director of the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (DFMWR / G9) at the Army level (U.S. Army Installation Management Command – IMCOM)Josh Gwinn

From: 

Soldiers, retirees, and military families of Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary, and Director:

We write as active-duty soldiers, retirees, and the families who have served and continue to serve at Fort Bragg—the historic home of the Airborne and Special Operations forces and one of the largest and most operationally critical installations in the United States Army. We respectfully but urgently request immediate intervention to stop the scheduled closure of Stryker Golf Course on or about 1 September 2026 and to reverse the broader pattern of diminishing on-base quality-of-life facilities.

Stryker is a Donald Ross-designed course that has served generations of soldiers and their families since 1946. It is not merely a recreational amenity; it is a piece of military heritage and a practical, affordable outlet for physical fitness, stress relief, unit cohesion, and family recreation. Fort Bragg currently supports approximately 50,000 service members and more than 80,000 family members. When retirees and their families who remain in the local area are included, the population that relies on MWR facilities is substantially larger. Closing Stryker would leave the entire community with only one golf course (Ryder). That is insufficient capacity for the size of this installation and its affiliated retiree population.

This is not an isolated decision. It continues a negative trend. The once-beautiful Willow Lake Golf Course on Pope Air Force Base was allowed to deteriorate and was ultimately closed. Land that had provided healthy recreation for airmen, soldiers, and families was lost. We now face the prospect of repeating that failure with another historic Donald Ross course. Soldiers and retirees of earlier generations enjoyed a fuller suite of MWR offerings. Today’s force and its families confront fewer on-base options and are increasingly pushed into the surrounding civilian environment of Fayetteville—areas that many of us experience as higher-crime and less suitable for family recreation.

Compounding the problem is evidence of mismanagement within local MWR; looks good on paper but the reality is something else entirely. Of the three bowling alleys that once served the installation, only one remains open, and even that facility is widely reported to be understaffed and poorly equipped. Yet resources appear available for MWR office renovations. This pattern—neglect of core recreational programs while administrative spaces receive attention—undermines trust and directly harms quality of life.

Discontinued or lost MWR activities highlight the extent of this decline:

Carpentry Shops, Auto Skills Shops, Picture-Framing Shops, Sewing Shops, and Horseback Riding Stables

Green Beret, 82nd Airborne, and 18th Airborne Corps Parachute Clubs

Fort Bragg Officers Club (historic national landmark) and NCO Club

Sports Bar

Labor Day Leapfest Parachute Competition (a major national military event)

Traditional New Year’s celebrations and formal Balls

Real Oktoberfest

Final straw: The July 4th Independence Day celebrations DID NOT TAKE PLACE on the actual holiday (shifted to June 27, 2026, with limited notice)

Quality of life is not a luxury. It is a readiness issue. Soldiers who can decompress, exercise, and spend time with their families on a safe, affordable, well-maintained installation return to the fight more resilient. Retirees who remain connected to the post through these facilities sustain the intergenerational military community that has long defined Fort Bragg. Forcing people off-post for basic recreation is a false economy that damages morale, readiness, and retention.

We therefore respectfully but firmly request the following:

Immediate halt to the planned closure of Stryker Golf Course (Donald Ross course) scheduled for 1 September 2026, and a full overhaul of the Fort Bragg MWR leadership and operational practices that have allowed facilities to degrade while core programs suffer.

Reversal of the broader trend of closing or under-resourcing historical MWR activities so that soldiers, retirees, and their families are not compelled to seek recreation in higher-cost civilian environments. Restore and properly staff and equip the full range of on-base activities that previous generations of the Fort Bragg community enjoyed.

This is not a request for special treatment. It is a call to restore the standard of care that the Army once provided as a matter of course. The men and women who deploy from this installation, and the families who support them, deserve facilities that reflect the value of their service. Stryker Golf Course should remain open, properly maintained, and available. The pattern of managed decline must end.

We stand ready to provide additional information, or personal testimony. We ask only that you act before another piece of this community’s recreational and historical fabric is lost.

Respectfully submitted,

The soldiers, retirees, and families of Fort Bragg who still believe quality of life on the installation is a national priority.