Five combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq will get you that "fruit salad".......I prefer to refer them as well earned medals rather than fruit salad.......but that's just me.
As a side note, what does "ex-enlisted" mean?
Ex-EM generally means someone who enlisted served and sometime in that service went through OCS (Officer Candidate School).
I don’t have the ribbons this gentleman does but also served almost 6 years as an EM/NCO and then went to OCS.
In the Navy, we referred to an officer up from the ranks as a Mustang. Whether you call it ex-enlisted or former enlisted, seems clear enough for informal conversation.