- 4 months ago
Tucked away in a small, nondescript facility at Fort Knox lies a crucial operation in the US military supply chain — the AAFES Name Tape Plant. This factory manufactures nearly every name tag worn by service members across the US Armed Forces.
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00:00this factory at Fort Knox in Kentucky is responsible for producing nearly every
00:10single name tape worn in the US military burning the back of it so that there's not the extra
00:18thread that's back there to make it presentable each military branch wears three or more different
00:26uniforms these uniforms are decorated with a variety of individual badges and awards but
00:33one thing they all share is their name tape with only 17 total employees this shop can make more
00:42than 3,000 name tapes a day and up to 60,000 a month we're a small operation but we we do big
00:50things we produce the best quality that we can we ship to 267 stateside military clothing stores we
01:01ship to 33 overseas military clothing stores how many different names do you think you're selling a
01:09day oh quite a bit we don't buy this paper here yesterday was 70 235 of them that's 70 names 235
01:19tapes just trying to make them all look perfect and I wouldn't put anything out that my husband
01:24wouldn't wear I'll put it that way they want soldiers to look outstanding because they're
01:28representing the United States of America that's why there's a chance that some of these natex might
01:36get worn into combat that's we try that's sad to us I'm not really sad but we know they do it and
01:43they run into combat and we just pray that person comes back alive when I first saw my name on my
01:49uniform it it didn't just feel like my name in the same way it felt like my name was a part of
01:55something bigger than myself it just felt like seeing the gerboff next to US Army it made me feel a
02:02lot more connected with with my country this modest building tucked away in a corner of Fort Knox is home
02:13to the name tape plant this operation in particular is very unassuming most people even know it's on
02:19Fort Knox even if you're on Fort Knox the staff has more than 240 years of combined experience how long have
02:27you been here are going close to 15 years 12 years I think all the other seven years I've been here 21
02:33years 30 years think 25 I'm only got two more years and I'm out many employees at the plant have either
02:42served in the military or have a spouse who served I think it comes from the heart I think it comes from
02:48having that experience being in the military knowing about sacrifices that that service person has gave up
02:55and I think they want just a little piece of part of that just to give something back to them that gives
03:02up so much for us that's why I think they stay around for so long the fact that we have about 17
03:07people producing almost 60,000 items a month to go out to the services is staggering a new cloth name
03:16tape with velcro cost soldiers four dollars and fifty cents rush orders cost five dollars and 75 cents
03:23this is not bad not bad at all I think that's a great price Teresa the plant manager said rising
03:30expenses are threatening its budget I try to stay under 60,000 dollars but my raw materials have gone
03:38up my threads gone up the production process begins as orders come in from US military installations
03:45all around the world the time I got here it's clocked this morning open we got 2,800 pieces over 2,800 pieces so
03:53this is where it starts that we print off we take them to the floor to get produced Teresa then hands out
03:59orders to employees on the floor the most commonly manufactured items are cloth name tapes and engraved
04:06name plates cloth name tapes worn on operational camouflage pattern uniforms or OCP's begin at the
04:16embroidery station the shop has eight four headed embroidery machines and two twelve headed machines
04:23first staff enters the name into the computer system this right here is going to tell me if it's
04:30standard or not which it is it normally takes about two to three minutes per name within that time frame
04:37you're going to be going over there typing in the next name getting your machine ready all of the
04:43standards the name tape plant uses are issued by the Institute of Heraldry an agency that oversees
04:49uniforms and insignia of the different military branches they make sure that the uniform is correct
04:58to use to make sure that you have the right height the right width and it's only only you can only be
05:04one-eighth of an inch off of anything the leather height or width they want it sewn a perfect way they
05:12want the right color thread they want the right color material your material has to come from a vendor
05:18that's certified through the Institute of Heraldry as well there's a certification process that you have to go
05:27through for the Army Air Force Navy Marines all of it you don't want to do a name over if you don't
05:35have to if it just has something tiny missing like say that didn't go all the way up I know how to make
05:41it so I could fix it our thread has gotten thinner over the years so sometimes it's hard to get it in
05:47there but it'll go and is there like a last name that you do a lot yeah a lot of Smith's I love it
05:53because it's a fast-paced and my husband's in the military and my father was too so it makes me happy
06:00I'm sewing names where uniforms I always say this is my exercise program and I don't have to pay them
06:05they're paying me because I get like almost three miles a day running back and forth although the names are
06:12stitched using machines every tape has a handmade touch make sure everything is kind of off of the
06:22back long as it don't hang over it's okay well why are you doing that I'm burning the back of it so
06:30that there's not the extra thread that's back there to make it presentable after the cloth name tapes are
06:37stitched and cut single-needle sewing machines attach velcro this is the measuring then you have to put the
06:47name we have the line in the middle and we have to make sure that the name is right on the middle you
06:53have to put the velcro on and we have to sew on how long have you been here seven years
07:07seven years and what uh you said you love it what do you love about it um the job it's you know that
07:14is only thing what we can support the soldier to do the names the brain for them because that is our
07:20support for them you know every time when they put this name here we just feel really good that it's
07:27coming from us to support them another signature product made at the plant is engraved name plates
07:39for formal uniforms you have to put the name in the computer and put a piece of metal in here
07:46for a while and then we're going to catch the name whenever I go out somewhere and I see someone in a
07:59uniform I always look to see if I could tell it was made here Miranda paints each nameplate by hand
08:07gonna make sure it gets in all the letters use this to remove excess paint and get to put in here to dry
08:15for a while and after that dries for about five ten minutes we start taking this and basically we
08:24just have to keep going over it until the blues only in the letters once all the blue is off we take
08:31the clear coat and put over it and then backing goes on it and it gets shipped out the plant also
08:39makes plastic name tags we cut the plastic out for the AGSU for the new army uniform I can select
08:47whatever program it is that I need army air force how many of these a day are you cutting on a real
08:52good day I can bust out five you know there was one time where we was falling behind because of the
08:58when we start getting schools and things like that from army and air force they do big orders so at one
09:03point I was falling behind but we were running my clockwork and I mean I pushed out 500 a day one
09:09time and she was like oh 500 I said oh hey you know don't be comfortable with this it's just for
09:14one day but yeah I can I can knock out at least three to four a day once I get done cutting them
09:19I'll bring them over here put the glue on the backs and then I grab the plastic backing
09:28when I was in I took pride in my uniform make sure my rivers were straight and everything and I like
09:38to know that once I get this out to them that you know I like to know that it's looking good on their
09:43uniform next to the engraving station is a single-headed embroidery machine used to stitch
09:52more complex names the challenges that we run into when it comes to name was uh back then they
09:58wouldn't have the special like hyphens accent tillies and all that so now they do like I'd come over here
10:04for like the tilly and go to new designs and then come to this t and then let's say key in Kenya
10:13and then right here you see the tilly right there I'm just so far right now we do the tillies and the
10:20accents but we had a uh we had one custom that wanted the Russian name and Russian letters and
10:28I was a little more difficult to figure out we had to sit there and turn the H upside down to kind
10:35of match the same as the customer name so yeah besides uncommon letters and symbols plant staff
10:41encounter other challenges as well what's like the longest name you've seen hate to say it man but my
10:46Hispanic people got the longest name I've seen Martinez Gonzalez and then I've seen Rodriguez Rodriguez
10:53Gonzalez so like when mine's Medina Perez in the Marine Corps my journalist wasn't too proud of that he
10:59was like Medina Perez pick one because you can't have both right now sometimes challenges are not
11:05people wanting to mark like we've had a lot of people to retire and getting folks in here getting a
11:14a step in here you know hey come here see what you're gonna do see what we got to offer just
11:19getting people in the front door because you know I think the younger generation you know they don't
11:25know what hard work is sometimes I feel not all but some once the team finishes all name tapes and
11:33plates Emma then inspects one last time at a quality control station so I'm checking
11:39for the spelling the amount the right thread and make sure the quality is correct now name tapes are
11:52ready for shipping domestic orders are shipped in bags via FedEx while international orders are shipped via USPS
11:59sometimes we have to ship out boxes like Andrews and the Pentagon they request boxes they do not
12:07like the bags so every day is roughly about 80 90 bags or boxes and we shipped out to 80 90 different
12:15military facilities orders here have a turnaround time of two to three days at the end of the day
12:22we'll go through we'll close all the bags up and we'll ship them out my dad was an army and my
12:28grandfather my my uncle and just seeing my name on the uniform that they wore and serve the country
12:34with is just an unbelievable feeling I was waiting for my name tapes for a while because at first they
12:39had just gave me the uniform gave me the US Army and it was like oh your name isn't ready yet so I was
12:44waiting and waiting for my name and I just felt so empowered I feel like I'm carrying on a legacy my
12:48family is an all-army family so I'm carrying on a legacy and I feel so good to walk around with Jackson
12:53my uncle was in the Air Force um he flew YouTube pilots and he passed away actually uh two weeks
13:01after I was born and I actually remember I put on my uniform for the first time when my patches came
13:06in and it was like huge and baggy and it was fresh in your eye looked like ridiculous and I called my
13:11dad and I was like in tears and I was like I'm wearing the same like name tape that like Uncle Duane
13:16was wearing and like he started crying and I was like I'm I was like even if I get married like I'm not
13:21changing my last name in the military because like I don't know this might be like too much but I just
13:26like always think that like I'm carrying him with me like I'm making him proud like I'm continuing his
13:31military legacy and it just it gives me a lot of pride to carry this last name the US military didn't
13:39require names on uniforms until the 1950s before then soldiers would often hand write their names on
13:46pieces of white cloth and attach them to their uniforms to assist with identification but it
13:53wasn't until the Korean War in 1953 that Army Secretary Robert Stevens mandated that all uniforms bear the
14:02service members last name and military branch the name tape plan at Fort Knox opened in 1985 when we
14:11came at Fort Knox they had six machines that's all they have they had six machines and six people
14:17working one shift although the size of the operation has changed over the years its mission has not they
14:26come in every day they're ready for the mission they're ready to get those name tags out because
14:31they you know they know it's they need them they don't just don't order a name tag so they don't need
14:35them you know they somebody needs those you know and it's kind of like a you know a big it's a big deal
14:40for us it's also to know that we're accomplishing missions we take the challenge head on and we try
14:46to push it out as fast as we can but like I said we're a small operation but we we do big things my
14:53little piece of making this name tag it's going to be on site you know on a soldier that I'll never meet
14:58that's why I stayed you know it's giving back to someone I don't know and because they do so much
15:08for us that people don't even know realize what they do
15:28you
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