Brig. Gen. Adam Chalkley, right, commander of 3rd Marine Logistics Group, presents the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal to Sgt. Malik Pugh at Camp Kinser, Okinawa,Japan, on Dec. 6, 2023. (Sydni Jessee/U.S. Marine Corps)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A Marine on Okinawa who repaired a mobile satellite communications terminal with a 3D-printed part earlier this year was recognized by the Marine Corps recently for his effort.
Sgt. Malik Pugh, 24, a digital wideband systems maintainer with Marine Wing Communications Squadron 18, was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal during a Dec. 6 ceremony at Camp Kinser, according to a Marine news release shortly afterward. The award was presented by Brig. Gen. Adam Chalkley, commander of the 3rd Marine Logistics Group.
Pugh, of Fairview Heights, Ill., distinguished himself over the summer, when he was called to work on a mobile communications satellite on wheels, known as a Very Small Aperture Terminal-Large, according to his award recommendation from the Corps. The terminal allows the exchange of high-bandwidth voice, video and data in support of intelligence and logistics missions.
Pugh and other repairmen began to tinker with the terminal to find out what caused the shutdown, the recommendation said. He soon identified the culprit, a faulty WCTRL-11 cable, called a Whiskey-11 by the Marines.
The cable, which carries data signals, is made up of several parts that must be ordered individually to field a viable replacement, Lt. Col. Matt Bowman, assistant chief of staff for communications and electronics with the 3rd Marine Logistics Group, told Stars and Stripes by email Dec. 19.
The part, a $0.48 plastic housing for pin connectors that plugs directly into the terminal, was on back order, meaning it would take more than a year to arrive.
“I was like, ‘OK, I’ll be back tomorrow with a cable,’ ” Pugh recalled Dec. 18 at his home workshop at Camp Foster. “We have the schematics; it’s not that hard to build.”
Pugh spent dozens of hours at home designing the specialized connector in a computer-aided design file, according to the recommendation. Soon, his LulzBot 3D printer was spinning plastic filament; he also had to perform the tedious task of rewiring the cable.
Marine Sgt. Malik Pugh in his home workshop at Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan, on Dec. 18. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Armed with a working prototype, Pugh brought the file to Marines of 3rd Maintenance Battalion, the recommendation said. They printed the final product, which was then successfully tested.
The terminal was brought back online, and Pugh’s plastic connector was deemed a worthy stopgap going forward, the recommendation said.
“He looked for a solution outside of the training manual and was able to help increase the readiness of one of our critical communications assets,” Bowman said. “His impact goes beyond the operational success of satellite repair.”
The Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal is awarded to service members below the rank of colonel for meritorious service or achievement in combat or noncombat. The medal may either recognize sustained performance or a specific achievement that does not warrant a higher award.
For Pugh, making the part was just another day at the office, he said. The Marine is known around Okinawa for cruising to work on a motorized skateboard; his barracks’ workshop at Kinser was notoriously packed with electronics and tools.
Now living in family housing on Foster, the workshop full of remote-controlled cars, humanoid robots and commercial drones, has grown in size. He said he hopes his technical acumen inspires a new generation of tech-savvy Marines.
“If you got somebody thinking on their feet out there, man, that’s a lethal weapon right there,” Pugh said. “That’s something I want to spread to other Marines.”
