Skip to content
Triangle Local

Fayetteville, Cumberland County

Fayetteville: Fort Bragg units test temporary battlefield burial procedures

An Army DVIDS report on Operation Dragon Covenant describes late-October training near the St. Mere Eglise Drop Zone. Army Times independently covered the same exercise.

ConfirmedThe main facts are confirmed by official or first-hand sources.

By Alexandru Stanciu · Published

The Market House on Hay Street in downtown Fayetteville

File photo: Epicjeff (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

What we know

Confirmed

  • A U.S. Army story distributed on DVIDS and credited to Capt. Thomas McCarty describes Phase II of Operation Dragon Covenant at Fort Bragg, in which soldiers from the 3rd Corps Sustainment Command, the 20th Engineer Brigade and unit ministry teams tested procedures for large-scale battlefield temporary interment near the St. Mere Eglise Drop Zone.Confirmed by U.S. Army / DVIDS (Capt. Thomas McCarty, dated Oct. 22, 2026)
  • That Army account says the service has not executed temporary battlefield interment at that scale since the Korean War, and that the exercise used simulated skeletal models and sealed water containers rather than human remains.Confirmed by U.S. Army / DVIDS (Oct. 22, 2026)
  • The Army report says operators from the 27th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade, used D6 bulldozers and completed a trench sized for 20 remains in an average of one hour and 15 minutes, after earlier trials with backhoes averaged three hours per trench for 10 remains.Confirmed by U.S. Army / DVIDS (Oct. 22, 2026)
  • Planners cited in the Army report estimated that an engineer company with eight bulldozers and four High Mobility Engineer Excavators could prepare and close trenches for up to 2,400 remains every 24 hours in continuous operations.Confirmed by U.S. Army / DVIDS (Oct. 22, 2026)
  • The Army report says 130 religious-support personnel from units across the XVIII Airborne Corps, including the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, Fort Bragg Garrison and Special Forces elements, trained on temporary-interment religious support, described as the first such chaplain training in more than 20 years.Confirmed by U.S. Army / DVIDS (Oct. 22, 2026)
  • The Army report says findings are being sent to the Joint Mortuary Affairs Center at Fort Lee, Virginia, and to the Chaplain Corps' Transformation Integration Directorate, and that the 3rd Corps Sustainment Command plans another Dragon Covenant phase next spring with daytime and blackout conditions, security teams, Role 2 medical facilities and a mortuary affairs collection point.Confirmed by U.S. Army / DVIDS (Oct. 22, 2026)
  • Army Times independently reported the same Fort Bragg exercise, the Korean War comparison, the one-hour-and-15-minute dig time for a 20-remain trench, the up-to-2,400-remains-per-day planning estimate, the use of simulated remains, and a spring 2027 follow-on labeled Phase III.Confirmed by Army Times (Eve Sampson, Oct. 26, 2026)

Still unknown

  • Exact calendar dates for every phase beyond the Oct. 21 photo caption date in the Army materials
  • Whether Phase III dates or locations have been posted beyond "next spring" / spring 2027

What this means for you

Instructions from U.S. Army / DVIDS Operation Dragon Covenant story

This site is not the U.S. Army or Fort Bragg. For official releases, use Army or DVIDS channels. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.

What happened

In Fayetteville, Fort Bragg units have tested how the Army would temporarily bury fallen service members during a large-scale fight and still recover them later, according to an official Army account.

A U.S. Army story distributed on DVIDS and written by Capt. Thomas McCarty describes Phase II of Operation Dragon Covenant near the St. Mere Eglise Drop Zone. Soldiers from the 3rd Corps Sustainment Command, the 20th Engineer Brigade and unit ministry teams took part. The Army account says the service has not carried out temporary battlefield interment at that scale since the Korean War, and that the trenches held simulated skeletal models and sealed water containers, not human remains.

Operators from the 27th Engineer Battalion used D6 bulldozers and finished a trench sized for 20 remains in an average of one hour and 15 minutes, the Army report says, after earlier backhoe trials averaged three hours for a 10-remain trench. Planners estimated that an engineer company with eight bulldozers and four High Mobility Engineer Excavators could prepare and close trenches for up to 2,400 remains every 24 hours in continuous operations.

The same report says 130 religious-support personnel from across the XVIII Airborne Corps trained on temporary-interment religious support, described as the first such chaplain training in more than 20 years. Findings are headed to the Joint Mortuary Affairs Center at Fort Lee, Virginia, and another Dragon Covenant phase is planned for next spring with daytime and blackout conditions, security teams, Role 2 medical facilities and a mortuary affairs collection point.

Army Times independently reported the same exercise, timing figures, simulated-remains detail and a spring 2027 follow-on labeled Phase III.

This site is not the U.S. Army or Fort Bragg. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.

Related coverage

Why it matters

Fort Bragg units are testing how the Army would temporarily bury fallen service members in a large-scale fight and still recover them later. Cumberland County readers need the official exercise facts without social-media claims the Army materials do not make.

Updates

  1. Nov 5, 2026, 6:06 AM

    First file from the Army/DVIDS Dragon Covenant report and the independent Army Times account of the same Fort Bragg exercise.

Sources

  1. Army Tests Battlefield Temporary Interment to Validate Remains Preservation and Future Repatriation (U.S. Army story on DVIDS / Capt. Thomas McCarty, dated Oct. 22, 2026: Phase II at Fort Bragg near St. Mere Eglise Drop Zone; 3rd CSC, 20th Engineer Brigade, unit ministry teams; simulated remains; D6 dozer timing; 2,400/24-hour planning estimate; 130 religious-support personnel; Phase III next spring. Text-only; no Army photos used.)

    Official sourcePublished by U.S. Army (via DVIDS) · Checked Nov 5, 2026, 6:12 AM

  2. US Army practices digging temporary battlefield graves (Army Times / Eve Sampson, Oct. 26, 2026: Fort Bragg / North Carolina exercise; Korean War comparison; simulated remains; one hour 15 minutes for 20-remain trench; up to 2,400 per 24 hours; Phase III spring 2027. Text-only; no Army Times photos used.)

    Published by Army Times · Checked Nov 5, 2026, 6:10 AM

More from Cumberland County

Cumberland County news

Related stories

File photo

Community

Raleigh: Life Time Living tower breaks ground at The Exchange

Dewitt Carolinas and Life Time marked the Oct. 29 groundbreaking for a 20-story Midtown tower with 289 apartments and an 80,000-square-foot athletic club. Axios and Business North Carolina independently reported the ceremony.

2 days ago