FORT KNOX, Ky. – Millions of service members from every military branch of service can trace their names back to one location.
Their names are not traced in the ancestral sense, however, but rather physically by a small team of workers at the Army & Air Force Exchange Service Name Tape Plant; in an unassuming nondescript facility located at Fort Knox.
Plant manager Teresa Green receives hundreds of orders a day from all over the world in her email inbox. As the only AAFES facility of its kind, Green said their operation is responsible for filling requests from 197 military clothing stores throughout the United States as well as an additional 20 overseas.
“We [make] all the uniform tags – the branch and the names – for the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Space Force,” said Green. “We do all the embroidery and the name tags for dress uniforms, too.”
The facility is comprised of numerous automated machines designed to embroider and engrave, as well as stations where employees perform tasks such as applying Velcro, hand-painting metal tags and preparing items for shipment.
“Right now, we do about 200 to 220 orders every day and there’s up to 20 names per order,” said Green. “We’re producing about 3,000 pieces a day, and a lot of it is hands-on manual work.”
Although production levels vary, with busier times near the beginning and end of the month coinciding with military pay dates, Green said their facility averages about 50,000 units each month. However, there is one situation arising every so often that creates a significant surge in orders.
“When we have a uniform change like a few years ago, we’re really working,” said Green. “I had to have two shifts then. We’d work six, even seven days a week – just whatever we had to do to support our troops.”
Green explained that a lot goes into preparing for a uniform change. She said as a certified facility, they’re required to submit a drawing of the new tag layout before they can begin production.
“We have to get approved to make these. It’s not just something you can do in a day,” said Green. “We have to receive approval from the Institute of Heraldry out of Fort Belvoir in Virginia.”
Once approved, Green said they can move forward with creating products that service members will be able to know are verifiably accurate. That isn’t always the case if they purchase them from anywhere aside from a designated military clothing store.
“If you go outside the gate and get something made there,” said Green, “it’s not guaranteed it’s going to be certified.”
Green, who will celebrate her 26th year at the plant this August, said the facility has been producing certified embroidered and printed tags at Fort Knox for nearly four decades.
“Our plant first opened at Fort Knox in 1985,” said Green. “Our previous manager was here over 30 years and I worked under her from 1997 until 2018. I’m only the second manager of this facility ever.”
The products coming out of the plant may travel all over the world and be worn by countless service members, but the number of people behind the operation couldn’t fill one full name tape order sheet.
“I only have 18 people here and most of them have been here for years,” said Green. “We’re kind of like a small family.”
Altogether the plant staff members have a combined 240 years of experience.
Lynn Markham, another long-time plant employee who is in charge of quality control and shipping orders, is often referred to as “Hawkeye” by her coworkers. She and another employee approve of every single piece before it gets packaged and shipped.
Markham said any time she sees someone in uniform, she zeroes right in on the lettering across the front: “I can take one look at a name tape and know if it’s ours.”
Green agreed with Markham, saying her crew truly has production down to a science. However, she attributed their dedication to something more than just expertise.
“Everybody loves their country here,” said Green. “Everybody has great respect for the military. They’re all affiliated in some way. Most are either retired or the spouse of a retiree. They stay here because they love it.”
For the thousands of U.S. service members who put on a uniform every day, Green said they can be assured that if their name was embroidered at the facility, they can count on it being done with honor.
“You want it to look perfect and you try your best,” said Green. “You want to be proud that you made that because they sacrifice their lives for us.
“That’s how we feel.”
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