Nov. 8--Col. Stephen Sicinski, Fort Bragg's garrison commander, offered the following "fun facts":

Fort Bragg has "the No. 1 Papa John's on the planet." It started with a handful of employees, went to 40 employees in about two months. There are now 85 employees at the single carry-out location.

The Burger King on Smoke Bomb Hill is No. 1 in the eastern region, east of the Mississippi.

Taco Bell and Starbucks are top in sales in AAFES, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.

Sicinski mentioned those facts Oct. 29 at the annual meeting of the BRAC Regional Task Force at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church.

"And, by the way, this is all happening with almost 40 percent of the post population deployed," Sincinski said.

That raises some interesting issues about what Fort Bragg will be like in 2010 when large numbers of soldiers return from deployments.

It also foreshadows the issues that will arise when a four-star headquarters and another three-star headquarters arrive in 2011. The employees of those headquarters travel often, but they never deploy in large numbers.

And the post itself is supposed to continue growing through 2013.

There should be interesting times ahead.

Got a tip or a question on BRAC? Contact military editor Henry Cuningham at cuninghamh@fayobserver.com or 486-3585.

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