Photo By Staff Sgt. Makayla Elizalde | A Mobile User Object System antenna replacement mast, created by U.S. Marine Corps...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — A U.S. Marine places a broken Mobile User Object System (MOUS) on a shelf, the fiberglass of the MOUS antenna mast brittle and weakened from use and exposure. It sits next to dozens of others, all unusable because of one flaw.
Marines across II Marine Expeditionary Force saw that their operational readiness was severely impacted without these necessary communication capabilities. That is, they were until the mind of U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Eirick Schule, an engineer equipment operator with 2nd Distribution Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, developed a plan that put the equipment and Marines back in the fight.
Currently assigned to the II Marine Expeditionary Force Innovation Campus, Schule designed and developed a replacement mast for the MOUS antenna in late April 2025, a solution that saved the Marine Corps thousands of dollars and increased the longevity of the equipment by allowing Marines to have a constant stream of reusable replacement pieces.
After arriving at 2nd MLG as an engineer equipment operator, Schule began working at the 2nd Distribution Support Battalion armory from February 2024 to March 2025 as an armory custodian, where he met Master Gunnery Sergeant Jacobson, who would strike up a conversation with Schule about his interests. Schule and Jacobson spoke about Schule's passion for creating things and solving problems.
Before enlisting in the Marine Corps in 2022, Schule worked as a machine operator at Cobalt Enterprises, gaining knowledge on Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines. There, he learned to operate machines to create complex parts as well as discovered his ability to design and create. He never imagined that he would one day use that experience to design and create items using 3D printers for the Marine Corps. When he learned of the II MEF Innovation Campus, a small unit staffed by hand-selected 2nd MLG Marines with a passion for innovation, Schule jumped at the opportunity to get back to his passion.
“Master Gunnery Sergeant Jacobson, who is now retired, came up to me and we had a conversation about how I wanted to be a machinist again,” said Schule. “He said, ‘I know about this place called the Innovation Campus, and I think you’ll be a really good fit there.’”
Following the conversation with Jacobson, Schule attended a basic additive manufacturing course at the Innovation Campus where he developed and reinforced the technical skills necessary to reverse engineer and print parts. After completing the course, Schule was nominated to join the staff and started working as an additive manufacturing instructor from March to December 2025.
“Having Schule on the staff has been great,” said CWO 3 Matthew Pine, the II MEF Innovation Campus Officer in Charge. “Whenever he receives a project, he just works at it until it is completed.”
During Schule’s first week of working at the Innovation Campus, Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Regiment, walked in looking for assistance. They received communication equipment from another unit with operational wear and tear on the antenna, leading to them being broken or unfit for use. This is a common problem being faced across the Fleet Marine Force, and with replacement parts costing up to $5,644.37 each, and at times taking more than 220 days to be delivered, the battalion was seeking a quicker and less expensive option for a replacement.
“I was standing in the conversation, observing and listening, and then Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Pine handed me the item and said, ‘Make something,’” said Schule.
“Lance Corporal Schule was chosen to handle the project due to the simplicity of the design needed and it was a good test to see how he worked through creative problem solving. We try to assign projects to staff within their first few days to really help them develop their skillset with hands on experience and the aid of the staff that has been on site for a while.” said Pine, the II MEF Innovation Campus Innovation Officer.
“Being in an environment where I could apply my hobby felt nice,” said Schule. “Because my rank wasn’t the most important thing when it came to voicing my opinions and working at something. It made work feel less like an obligation and more of something where I was a willing participant.”
As they began printing, it turned out to not be as simple as pressing a button. Schule ran into the obstacle of trying to make the piece durable. When he printed the piece vertically, it started to break at certain points. This issue led to Schule experimenting with printing the mast horizontally, which made it stronger. After the printing was complete, the piece underwent durability tests at the innovation campus. The durability tests included basic form, fit, and function testing to validate the final design and production methods were sufficient. Finally, there was the field test, which allowed Marines outside of the innovation campus to test the mast’s durability in everyday use and in a field environment.
Immediately upon receiving the replacement mast, the Marines with 2/8 took four 3D printed pieces on a month-long field operation and confirmed they functioned well, and they confirmed that the piece withstood all elements and operational exercises.
After seeing the success of the replacement piece, Pine said he saw that the need for replacements went far beyond one Marine Corps unit.
“I went to a joint exercise in April 2025, and we looked at how many of these pieces were broken across the Marine Corps, and it was over one million dollars’ worth,” said Pine. Since then, the II MEF Innovation Campus has taken more of an initiative in seeking out problems and helping other units with supply issues.
“Seeing something I designed being used and to know that I made an imprint that mattered to the Marine Corps makes me extremely happy,” said Schule. “Now that I’m back in the [Fleet Marine Force] I am very eager to see my product I designed be used. Especially because I'm now in a communication battalion, so my likelihood of seeing it again is extremely high.”
Contributing to this problem set opened up the room to answer the bigger issue: How do we continue to aid other units and their supply issues? Especially when the Innovation Campus has access to Marines with the mindsets that can fix these problems and the drive to help. Pine and Schule took the question by the bootstraps and ran with it.
“We started the ‘proof of principle,’ with 2nd MLG in July or August, where we innovate supply solutions to improve readiness by resolving supply latency issues,” said Pine. “I’m not going to wait for you to tell me you have a problem; I can look at your back order and tell you that you have a problem. Here’s the solution: take it and do good things.”
To date, the II MEF Innovation Campus has produced 40 more replacement pieces for 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. In addition, 1stMaintenance Battalion, 1st Combat Readiness Regiment, 1st Marine Logistics Group, has used Schule’s design to produce 67 replacement pieces for multiple units across Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California.
Prior to Schule’s innovation, a replacement mast for the MOUS could require ordering the entire antenna assembly, costing the Marine Corps $5,644.37 and taking more than seven months to deliver after being ordered. Now, Schule’s solution circumvents these time and financial blocks. The cost of each mast produced by II MEF Innovation Campus sits at approximately $10 in consumable materials and takes approximately 10 hours to complete. With the production of 107 antenna masts since the original creation, Schule’s design has saved the Marine Corps approximately $600,000 and over 60 years of combined supply wait time.
The II MEF Innovation Campus’ mission is to locate and solve problems. Whether technical, logistical, or process focused, their primary goal is to give Marines like Schule access to the tools, training, and expertise to find solutions to issues and increase warfighter readiness.
| Date Taken: | 03.02.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 03.03.2026 14:39 |
| Story ID: | 559182 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 20 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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