U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Savannah Mesimer ()
IBC is part of Marine Corps Systems Command’s “Marine Maker” program that supports the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Force Design 2030 by promoting innovation, adaptability, and the ability to succeed in the rapidly changing 21st century operating environment.
“The Marine Corps is all about innovation, we are constantly adapting to the battlefield and applying new technologies to enhance our operations,” said Capt. Daniel Asheim, the deputy force engineer for III MEF. “The Marine Maker is a space provided to Marines that has 3D printers, laser engravers, and tactical workspaces for Marines to create innovative projects, and we have one right here on Camp Hansen.”
III MEF Information Group’s Marine Maker area was created by the Building Momentum team, a group of individuals who travel across the globe delivering modernization classes to members of the Department of Defense.
“We’re almost constantly on the move, always training Marines because every day, there’s new technology,” said Rowan Dell-deRonde, a senior training associate for Building Momentum. “New technologies mean new ideas, better ways to train, and better products. Right now, we’re here to teach IBC. The students receive overviews and challenges in welding, computer programming and coding, and 3D printing.”
The knowledge they’re given during the first four days is applied on the last day of the class, when they’re given their capstone project.
The capstone project is the final portion of the class where students combine parts of each component they learned in the course, and create one product using those skills. This may include 3D printing parts, welding them together, and programing their projects.
“One previous project, we had the students create robots that they drove, with controllers they designed, in a warehouse and had to destroy simulated targets,” Rowan stated. “We also had an enemy team who would attack the students’ robots, causing them to troubleshoot how to fix their robots.”
The students in this iteration of IBC created controllable robots using coding, programing and 3-D printing. Upon completion, they pitted their robots against each other in a tournament, to test the functionality of their products.
“So far, we’ve trained about 4,500 Marines in IBC,” said Brad Halsey, the chief executive officer of Building Momentum. “Training these Marines helps the Marine Corps create critical thinkers who build solutions to problems.”
One student mentioned that the skills taught in the class offer a flexible solution of bypassing the supply chain and wait time for a part to arrive; they are actually able to create their own pieces of equipment to provide a solution during the waiting process.
“That’s our goal: identifying issues, using the brain, giving these Marines freedom of thought to create,” Halsey stated. “Especially in the region that we’re in, we’re tested by the environment, the terrain, everything, it’s the perfect place to field new capabilities.”
Photo Caption: U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Alexis Trejogarrido, a telephone systems/personal computer repairs technician with 7th Communication Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, scrapes filament off of a 3D printer during Innovation Boot Camp (IBC) on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 1, 2022. IBC was designed to teach Marines skills such as welding, 3D printing, coding, and programming to create innovative products for the Marine Corps and to test Marines’ critical thinking skills. Trejogarrido is a native of Mesa, Arizona.
