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ROUTINE

R 221737Z DEC 17

FM CNO WASHINGTON DC

TO NAVADMIN

INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC

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NAVADMIN 309/17

MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N4/DEC//

SUBJ/ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING - A CHALLENGE FOR EVERY SAILOR//

REF/A/MSG/COMNAVSEASYSCOM WASHINGTON DC/121201ZJAN15//

REF/B/DOC/NAVAIRINST 13034.1F/30JUN16//

NARR/REF A IS NAVAL SEA SYSTEMS COMMAND GUIDANCE FOR DEPARTURE FROM 
SPECIFICATIONS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING.  REF B IDENTIFIES RESPONSIBILITIES 
FOR EXECUTING AIRWORTHINESS REVIEWS RESULTING IN NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND 
FLIGHT CLEARANCES.// POC/M. FINE/LCDR/OPNAV N4/MEGAN.FINE@.NAVY.MIL/TEL: 
(703) 614-7963
/DSN: 224-7963//
POC/P. VEITH/LCDR/OPNAV N4/PATRICK.VEITH@NAVY.MIL/TEL: (703) 695-4889
/DSN: 225-4889//

RMKS/1.  The Navy is actively seeking ideas from the Fleet to create 
innovative solutions to materiel problems.  Additive Manufacturing (AM), 
often referred to as 3 dimensional (3-D) printing, can enable those 
solutions.  AM is the process of making a 3-D object of virtually any shape 
from a digital model by adding successive layers of material.  It includes a 
diverse set of processes and materials such as plastics, composites, metals 
and others.  Recent technological advances enable manufacturing or cost-
effective repair of end-use components, and open the door to an enormous 
array of new capabilities that will directly benefit the warfighter.  Navy 
leadership encourages Sailors and Navy civilians to use AM, where 
appropriate, to solve challenging materiel problems.

2.  AM provides an opportunity for every Sailor to impact the way their 
command executes its mission.  Throughout the Navy, it is being used to 
produce prototypes for form, fit, and function, as well as for tooling to 
include molds, jigs, and fixtures.  Sailors and Navy civilians across the 
Fleet are taking advantage of the opportunity to 3-D print innovative 
solutions to real world challenges.  For example, Navy special operations 
personnel 3-D printed a new modular, extendable, carbon-fiber tactical ladder 
at a reduced weight with increased versatility.  Shipboard Sailors have 
harnessed AM to solve every day problems, including items such as a Hydra 
radio clip and a scullery throat guard.  Commanding officers are authorized 
and encouraged to use additively manufactured components in a safe and 
meaningful capacity per references (a) and (b), ensuring installed equipment 
is not compromised by use of an AM component.  Additional guidance from Naval 
Air Systems Command
(NAVAIR) and Naval Air Systems Command (NAVSEA) is in development and will be 
promulgated by June 2018 to maximize appropriate AM usage in low-risk 
applications.

3.  Naval warfare centers, depot maintenance facilities, and certain ships 
already have 3-D printers.  Fabrication labs (Fab Labs) exist at Regional 
maintenance centers in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Southwest as well as 
at Fleet Readiness Center East to help Sailors learn about and use AM; reach 
out and use them to help solve your challenges through new innovative ideas. 
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Fleet Readiness and Logistics (OPNAV N4) is 
the Navy lead for AM and challenges every Navy member, active, reserve, and 
civilian, regardless of rank, rate, or grade to explore new applications for 
this revolutionary technology.  In cases where your team has or seeks to use 
AM for a cutting edge solution, we encourage you to forward your idea.  
Solutions with the potential to provide significant benefit to the Navy, in 
the form of readiness, cost savings, or improved safety, will be presented to 
Navy senior leadership.  Forward all ideas to navyAM@navy.mil no later than 1 
March 2018.

4.  In order to validate how AM is currently being used throughout the Fleet, 
and to understand what value its providing across the enterprise, OPNAV N4 
requests organizations identify if they have a 3-D printer in their 
workspaces.  If your command has a 3-D printer, contact the OPNAV AM team at 
navyAM@navy.mil by 30 January 2018 and a Navy AM representative will provide 
you with a template to uniformly identify the pertinent data.  The template 
captures information such as, printer type, items being printed, what need 
the item addressed, what value the item provides to your command (mission 
impact, cost savings, design speed, increased operational availability), etc.  
This data is critical to support budget processes, mature AM policies, and 
enhance information sharing and lessons learned across the Navy.

5.  A concerted enterprise push to integrate AM into all aspects of naval 
operations will lead to a stronger, smarter, more agile, and more innovative 
fighting force.  AM will not be a panacea to every materiel problem, but it 
will be an important operational and acquisition tool as we transform into a 
digital Navy that is agile and ready to adapt in an uncertain global 
environment.

6.  You can find additional information regarding Navy AM at https:/ 
/www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/navy-additive-manufacturing or by contacting 
the POCs above.

7.  Released by VADM D. R. Smith, N4.//

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