ACES IS THE PLACE WITH THE BEST “HARDWARE”

Friends,

I wanted to blog about ACES, the Army Cadet Exchange Service.

ACES is basically our version of the Post Exchange. Here USAC personnel and friends can buy such items as uniforms, insignia, novelty items, Airsoft weapons, associated gear and so much more. Oh and I forgot about the snacks and drinks for Cadets during Canteen.

The storefront looks just like any Army Military Clothing Sales Store here in the country. However, just a few short months ago the current location for ACES (it was previously in the basement of the Dining Facility) was an indoor rifle marksmanship range. It was filled with junk and had to be completely gutted so the space could become a retail store.

ACES is the only commercial operation specifically designed to meet the needs of Army Cadets, their officers/non-commissioned officers and their units in the United States.

They also carry a line of Army Combat Uniform (ACU) and Multi-Cam field (web/snivel) gear as well as boots, Physical Training (PT) gear, knives, martial arts items/DVD’s, sundries (soap, razors, deodorant) and did I mention Airsoft items.

This operation is unique in that most of the insignia, t-shirts and supporting items like patches, guidons and embroidered insignia are produced on-site.

The back room of ACES (also known as the “sweat shop”) is where much of the magic happens. Here embroidery machines produce name and branch tapes, embroidered rank insignia and other cloth uniform items. A machine stamps out dog tags. A hot press churns out PT shirts and specialty wear. This is also where the beautiful USAC guidons are hand produced.

ACES is also unique in that it uses a debit system for most Cadet transactions. When a USAC Cadet signs in to an activity here at the National Cadet Training Center an account is created in ACES where they or their parents deposit monies and the Cadet can make purchases against monies in their account.

This creates an environment where our Cadets carry no monies and if they need something from ACES they can just swipe their Cadet ID Card for it, provided there is money in the account.

The store is managed and operated by Lt. Col. Joe Gorman and his fiancé Lillian Sanders.

For more information about ACES please visit their website at http://www.acesstore.com/catalog/

Have a great Army Cadet Day!
--
AL PABON
Civilian Executive, USAC
Annual Training Battalion
Public Affairs Officer/ Deputy G1
Headquarters, U.S. Army Cadet Corps
"ADVENTURE BEGINS HERE!"