CLB-3 Marines is recognized in support of Tripler Army Medical Center

Photo By Sgt. Jose Angeles | A 3-D printer is displayed during a ceremony, Sept. 11, 2020. Four CLB-3 Marines were recognized for assisting Tripler Army Medical Center by creating 1,500 face masks using the unit’s 3-D printer. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jose Angeles)  

UNITED STATES

09.25.2020

Story by Lance Cpl. Jose Angeles 

Marine Corps Base Hawaii

U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 3 received awards at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Sept. 11, 2020.
The four CLB-3 Marines were awarded for assisting Tripler Army Medical Center by creating 1,500 face masks using the unit’s 3-D printer.
The Marines worked together with other branches for several months during the outbreak to make sure they had proper coordination and supplies to help support the medical facilities.
“We were able to print 1,500 face shields,” said U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Luis Izquierdo, the company commander for Support Company, CLB-3. “We printed the base for the masks, gave them to medical personnel, and they installed the elastic with glass that actually covers people’s faces.”
“The printers broke--a lot,” Izquierdo said with a chuckle. “The Marines troubleshot and learned how to do various things with the printers. The process took a few months to get completed and it was a learning process the whole way.”
“I would say the initial start of it took a solid week of tinkering with the file so we could print efficiently,” said Sgt. Luis Alvarado, armory chief, CLB-3. “After we streamlined them into a better process for our printers, we figured out we could stack four on top of each other while printing and that significantly boosted our production.”
The printers worked for 19-20 hours a day to make a batch of four masks each day since the beginning of April this year.
“We definitely progressed a lot,” Alvarado said. “I got put on printing duty full time and made sure that everything was going smoothly with the help of the other Marines alongside me.”
The mass production overcame various obstacles throughout the entire process.
“I received word that I would be carrying out the project and finishing printing the masks,” said Lance Cpl. Dylan Quinn, additive manufacturing chief, CLB-3. “I put in countless hours of research into the machines so I could be able to help as much as I could.”
Quinn said the effort put into this project majorly benefited medical personnel at Tripler.
“We’ve not only helped people to continue being safe, but have also shown that we can accomplish something big like this with hard work and dedication,” said Quinn.

• Date Taken: 09.25.2020
• Date Posted: 09.25.2020 15:05
• Story ID: 378720
• Location: US