FORT KNOX, Ky. — In central Kentucky, Fort Knox is home to over 11,000 soldiers, which is just a small portion of all the nation’s service members. However, nearly every name in the entire U.S. military still passes through the post.

What You Need To Know

  •  The Army & Air Force Exchange Service Name Tape Plant is located on Fort Knox

  •  For decades, workers at the plant have been producing certified name and branch tags for military clothing stores all across the world

  •  Many of the plant's workers have a history with the military and work there in their retiremement, in service to troops

  • The Name Tag Plant produces a couple of thousand tags a day

Inside a modest building that used to be a bar on post is the Army and Air Force Exchange Service Worldwide Name Tape Plant. It’s a little-known factory where uniform tags are made.

“People who serve, people who live on Fort Knox don’t even know we’re here,’ said plant manager Teresa Green.

The name tags made at the Kentucky plant are worn on uniforms military members order after the initial ones they’re issued when they enter the military.

“If you go to a military clothing store and order your name tag, it’s a 99% chance you got it from here,” Green said.

The plant is certified to make both name and military branch tags for the U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines and Space Force. There is a strict approval process that the plant must go through with the branches and the Pentagon to receive certification.

“These are our service members that we have a lot of respect for. They deserve our respect,” Green said. “They sacrificed their lives for us. The least we can do is give them perfect name tags.”

The plant’s small staff of fewer than 20 civilians, most of whom are retired, turns out thousands of tags a day for over 200 U.S. military clothing stores across the world.

The plant gets especially busy any time there’s a uniform change. Right now, workers there are preparing for the Space Force to add metal name tags, like those the Air Force uses. The small team will begin producing those once it gets certification to do so through the Pentagon.

It’s an important job that many members of the team have been working at for decades.

The Velcro on fabric uniform tags is hand sewn. The plant also makes metal and epoxy tags that are carefully cut and hand painted.

Every single tag eventually makes its way to Lynn Markham, the plant’s quality inspector, before being sent out. She’s endearingly been nicknamed “Hawkeye” for her attention to detail.

“I’ve got to proof the spelling—at the same time the spelling, the branch, make sure the quantity is actually there,” Markham explained.

For 26 years, Markham has been the person every tag must get past.

“If something’s out, I just take it back and they redo it for me,” Markham said.

Like many others at the plant, Markham continues to work at the plant to support her troops, after a past of family service.

“I’m a military brat, military retired wife, so, yeah, it’s nice to still feel like you’re contributing,” Markham said.

Of her entire staff, Green is the only one in the plant originally from Kentucky. She, too, is a retired military wife, who, like her employees, stayed at Fort Knox and continue to be part of the big mission at the small factory.