New in 2017: 3-D printing to keep the force rolling ahead

Little bits of plastic are hardly the first thing to come to mind when thinking about the future of warfare, but 3-D printing may soon revolutionize the way deployed Marines do business.

The printers are relatively cheap, easy to transport and can quickly produce predesigned plastic parts. They will soon help deployed units to avoid the traditionally cumbersome logistics chain.

Waiting hours rather than months to get a new part can be a gigantic boon for an expeditionary force, augmenting a unit's ability to keep rolling without having to pause for necessary replacement parts.

Seeing the potential, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller put out a call to action in September for Marines to explore new ways to use the technology, also known as "additive manufacturing," to design and fabricate parts on the spot.

"The uses and limits of [additive manufacturing] have only just begun to be discovered – the AM technology domain continues to grow at an accelerated pace and in unpredictable ways," according to Marine administrative message 489/16.

In October, Marine Wing Support Squadron 372 became the first unit to successfully create a replacement part – a Humvee door handle – under austere field conditions during a training event aboard Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

The future of 3-D printing is not limited to replacement parts, however. It can also ‘print’ prosthetics, electronic components, large-scale decoys, unmanned aerial vehicles, and expeditionary shelters.