In the summer of 2015, I attended Squadron Officer School (SOS) at Maxwell AFB, AL. SOS is a five week course on leadership, management, team building, and officer development for Air Force captains.

I was on an OCONUS TDY when I was informed I would attend the course…in a week. Apparently someone had dropped out last minute. When I returned from my TDY, I had about 3 days to put my uniform together, pack, prepare, book my tickets, and depart for the course.

Since I had not worn my AF service dress uniform in 3 years, my ribbon rack was woefully out of date.

I needed to update my rack quickly or I'd look like a goober with only 2 ribbons! I turned to EZRackBuilder.com to quickly build and ship my rack, overnight. Yes, the shipping was ridiculous, but I was leaving in two days so I needed my rack built and shipped yesterday.

Ordering Ribbons from EZ Rack Builder

The online ordering process could not have been easier. Start by selecting your branch. Then, select what type of rack you want.

You can build thin ribbons, which are my personal favorite and look much better than standard ribbons. You can also build medal racks to display on your mess dress.

After selecting the type of rack you would like, select the size, backing (pin or magnetic), and alignment. There are helpful tips to keep you within regulations throughout the ordering process.

When you get to the screen where you select your ribbons, just make it look like your rack on your virtual MPF page. You can also search for ribbons by their name, which is extremely useful. You can quickly customize each ribbon and add any oak leaf clusters or other accouterments as necessary. It could not be easier to select the ribbons and the system automatically selects the order of precedence for you.

The pricing is very transparent when you add the rack you built to your cart. Thin ribbons start at about $12 and should run less than $30 depending on how many and what type of ribbons you have earned. As a five year captain with about 11 ribbons my total out the door cost was $42 with the overnight shipping.

EZ Rack Builder saved my bacon with their fast ribbon rack construction and shipping, letting me worry about more important things.

USAMM Review

USAMM, or USA Military Medals, is the parent company of the EZ Rack Builder service. They are based in Oregon and have over 200,000+ Facebook likes, so you know they are pretty popular with the military crowd. USAMM is veteran owned and they employ many veterans as well. All of the products they sell are sourced by manufacturers certified by the US government and the Institute of Heraldry. No knock-off products available here!

Their customer service was awesome when I contacted them about my order. I originally had selected 2 day shipping but wanted to upgrade to the overnight. They handled my request quickly, answering the phone after just a few rings. They got my order out the door that same day, even though I ordered after lunch, and FedEx dropped off the package the next morning. It definitely helped reduce the stress of going to SOS with almost no warning.

If your looking to upgrade your ribbon rack, add a few ribbons, or get your mess dress tricked out for the next military ball, I highly recommend USAMM and EZ Rack Builder.