Military honors Lumbee barber

FORT LIBERTY — In recognition for providing a lifetime of consistent, quality haircuts for Soldiers at Fort Liberty, Travis Bell, XVIII Airborne Corps barber, will be inducted into the National Barber Museum and Hall of Fame in September 2024.

Bell, is a Lumbee American Indian, born Nov. 12, 1939, in Pembroke to Jasper and Edna Bell.

Although he was born in Pembroke, he was raised in Lumberton. He attended Magnolia and Saint Paul’s schools as a child and describes his religious background as Baptist and Pentecostal. According to Bell, his childhood was no different than other families that lived in Lumberton.

“I was raised on a dirt farm in Lumberton, North Carolina,” Bell said. “I have eleven brothers and sisters. We went to school two days a week and worked three, or went to school three days a week and worked two. Things were very different back then.”

Learning how to cut hair was introduced to him at a very young age. Growing up, Bell had never even seen a barber shop. If you wanted your haircut, either one of your parents or siblings would cut your hair. For Bell, that would be his older brother. In fact, it was his older brother that taught him his craft.

His career as a professional barber took off in the 1950s. Per Bell, the going price for a haircut back then was only 40 cents. As time continued to climb, so did the price of a haircut. Bell came to Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in 1967. At that time the price of a haircut jumped from 40 cents a head to 90 cents a head.

Unbeknown to Bell, the first shop he hung his barber’s cap at would remain there for 57 years. That shop, of course, would be the XVIII Airborne Headquarters barbershop at Fort Liberty.

Initially, Bell was a bit hesitant about accepting the barber position on base. Not because he doubted his ability to provide quality haircuts, but he was slightly intimidated by the notion of having senior non-commissioned officers and officers in his chair.

“At first, I turned the position down,” Bell said. “I was told I’ll be serving sergeants major and generals and I thought to myself, I’m not sure if I’m up for that. However, I prayed on it, and I felt God heard my prayers because a week or two later I accepted the position.”

Although he initially accepted the XVIII Airborne Corps barber position with trepidation, he immediately emerged as a confident, well-established barber. Throughout his 57 years he has provided services to all military personnel from privates to sergeants major and lieutenants to 4-star generals. The walls of his barbershop are overflowing with statements of appreciation.

If you would ask Bell what the secret to his success is, he would simply say “put God in the driver’s seat and just sit back and see where he takes you. It’s been a good ride.”