US Army’s 1st Special Forces Group holds 3D printing symposium
From recycled filament to wire arc metal printing, Army maintainers are pushing additive manufacturing toward frontline self-sufficiency.
The US Army’s 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) has hosted a 3D printing symposium at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, with the objective of giving soldiers across the installation direct exposure to additive manufacturing as a practical tool for maintenance, repair and field sustainment. The event was led by Sgt. Clarissa De La Cruz, a 91E Allied Trade Specialist whose military occupational specialty covers welding, machining and 3D printing.
The symposium walked participants through the full AM workflow, from part design in SolidWorks to print preparation in PrusaSlicer. Items already produced by the unit included radio caps, part modifications, training aids and a full-scale M777 towed 155 mm howitzer muzzle printed for use as a decoy.
Explosive ordnance disposal training aids were also among the output, and De La Cruz said the pace of production was high. “We are booked and busy,” she said. “We are making multiple different parts so that we can turn over services for different shops.”
Speed, cost and supply chain independence
The symposium also addressed longer-term self-sufficiency. De La Cruz discussed the Recreator 3D, a system that converts plastic bottles into usable print filament by heating and expanding recycled plastic. The stated goal is to eventually produce a drone from recycled filament sourced entirely from materials available in the field.
“When we are deployed, we can use whatever is around us to still do our job and get our mission done,” De La Cruz said.
The broader intent behind the event was indeed not to produce specialists overnight. “The main goal was familiarization for soldiers post-wide,” added De La Cruz. “This allowed them to get some type of hands-on training with 3D printing.”
Metal printing and future applications
De La Cruz pointed to wire arc additive manufacturing as the direction the Army’s AM program was heading, and that the force was moving toward greater self-sufficiency across its maintenance operations, with 3D printing playing a growing role in that shift.
“The Army is starting to be more innovative… to see how much we can really fully sustain ourselves,” De La Cruz said. “3D printing gives us more opportunities to create parts and do our job.
“We 100% want them [soldiers] to be innovating and finding new ways of what we can fix and what we can make better. The possibilities are endless with what 3D printing can do. It’s really important for our soldiers to get out there and start learning about what we can do, so that way they can also help progress themselves and their peers.”
