A majority of service members in uniform can be identified by their last name thanks to the fabric, plastic or metal name tag that’s generally attached over their right breast pocket. It’s a small piece of the uniform, but it’s the most important part for a handful of people at Fort Knox, Kentucky, who create hundreds of thousands of them a year for nearly every service member in the Defense Department.

The Name Tape Plant, which is run by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, occupies an unassuming building at Fort Knox. But as you walk in, you can tell its small team of only 15 employees is hard at work creating quality products for U.S. military clothing stores all over the world.  

As their day begins, a cacophony of sound picks up, with dozens of sewing machines quickly punching needle and thread through spools of camouflaged fabric used for combat uniform tags known as name tapes. The plant has eight automated machines that can embroider four name tapes at a time, while two additional machines can do 12 at a time — mostly Air Force and Army tags.

“In the beginning, it was intimidating, but it’s not that hard once you train,” explained Delta Hodges, who said she had no professional sewing experience when she took the job 20 years ago.

Three single-head automated machines sew name tapes for every branch, while three more sew luggage tags, keychains and other miscellaneous items that service members request. Separate non-automated machines are used for hand-sewing Velcro onto name tapes if a service member has selected that option.

“We turn out about 2,000 to 3,000 pieces a day. That’s about 15,000 a week, so you’re talking about 60,000 in a four-week period,” said Name Tape Plant manager Teresa Green, whose crew receives orders daily and ships them out just as fast.

There used to be three shifts that kept the plant running 24/7, but there’s only one shift now that runs Monday through Friday.

The plant is certified by the Institute of Heraldry, the designer of insignia for various U.S. government agencies and the armed forces. It also certifies and approves all the specifics for each set of name tapes, which are different for each branch and type of uniform. For instance, the length and width of each name tape varies, as does the color thread that’s used for each service. The institute also has to approve which certified manufacturer the plant can order that thread from.

“[The institute] gives you, like, a micro-third of an inch to be off. It’s very little,” Green said. “They’re very particular.”

Each time a uniform is updated, such as the changes to the Army and Air Force combat uniforms a few years ago, the Institute of Heraldry informs the plant. But Green said that rarely affects their production process.

“If they do something specific to the name tag itself … that’s when we have to get involved,” she said. “The Air Force did have dark midnight blue thread at one time, but that blended in too much, so that’s why they went with the dark brown — they can see their names more clearly.”

Two automated engraving stations at the plant carve more names into plastic tags for various dress uniforms. Pedro Medina, a Marine Corps veteran, has worked at the plant since 2010 and runs the engravers, creating up to 400 tags a day.

Afterward, fellow co-worker Matthew Darcy coats the plastic tags with epoxy. It takes a steady hand to do it well, making sure to not let one tag’s epoxy bleed into another’s. Darcy then moves on to the meticulous part — using a small toothpick-like tool to make the epoxy cover the entire tag, as well as to bring pockets of air bubbles to the top.  Next, he uses a small blow torch to heat the epoxy to pop those trapped bubbles.

“It’s one of those things where once you start, you can’t stop. You have to get it done,” Darcy said.

The epoxy takes about seven hours to dry and harden completely; however, to cut down on that time, the plant also uses a UV light machine that can finish the job in about two hours.

The plant also makes plated-silver metal name tags for Air Force dress uniforms. The only service that doesn’t use the plant for orders is the Navy, which began requiring its own exchange to make sailors’ tags and name tapes in 2019.

At the end of the entire process, two employees act as quality control to make sure each tag is perfect before preparing them to ship.

The plant’s workers range in age from young to old, veterans to civilians, retirees to full-timers. Green said some employees come in with sewing experience, but it’s not required. Placement at the various machines is based on need, and each employee runs the same machine every day so they become efficient. However, they each know how to run every machine.

“Everybody’s cross-trained,” Green said, including two workers who went to school to learn how to fix the machines if they break down.

Many of the plant’s employees have worked at the facility for more than a decade — a longevity that’s indicative of it being a pretty solid place to work.

“I think making employees happy — you work for them, and they work for you,” Green said.

For that handful of workers, it’s a labor of love and thanks.

“The people here really care about the military. They are supportive. Most of them, their husbands are retired [military], and they want to do the best job they can because they know what the military family goes through,” Green said. “They all take great pride in their jobs.”