Fort Knox

Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The 109,000-acre (44,000 ha) base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties, with Hardin county receiving the largest benefit, economically. It currently holds the U.S. Army Armor Center, the U.S. Army Armor School, and is used by both the Army and the Marine Corps to train crews on the M1 Abrams main battle tank. The base is also one of five current locations for U.S. Army Basic Combat Training. The history of the US Army's Cavalry and Armored forces, and of General George S. Patton's career, can be found at the General George Patton Museum on the grounds of Fort Knox. Parts of the base in Hardin and Meade Counties form a census- designated place (CDP), which had a population of 12,377 at the 2000 census. "Fort Knox" in is often used in American English as an analogue that conveys cutting-edge security, impregnability, and excessive wealth[citation needed]. This is due in part to media depictions of the fort and its bullion depository, such as the 1959 James Bond novel Goldfingerby Ian Fleming and the 1964 movie.