When a shortage of critical single-use consumable suspension washers resulted in multiple amphibious combat vehicles being taken out of service, Marines assigned to the Fabrication Platoon, 2nd Maintenance Battalion, at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, stepped in, turning a potentially yearlong delay into a one-hour fix.
The initial problem was identified at the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, where ACVs were being taken out of service due to the lack of a specific suspension locking washer. The part, a mandatory replacement item for the vehicle's suspension system, was unavailable through the standard supply system due to a backlog, hindering unit readiness.
The solution came when Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Juedes, a ground ordnance vehicle maintenance officer with the assault battalion, approached the II Marine Expeditionary Force Innovation Campus with the problem.
Each suspension lock washer has square teeth that bend when torqued into place and when suspension components are taken apart or put back together. Due to this, the washers cannot be reused and become damaged once removed from an ACV's suspension system.
Juedes presented a damaged washer to Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Pine, the campus's officer in charge, who tasked his 2nd Maintenance Battalion team with finding a solution. They immediately went to work. By using aluminum sheets and a water jet, they reverse engineered the part and produced a working prototype, showcasing the immense value of advanced manufacturing.
"It took less than 30 minutes to create it, and in less than an hour, we had a working prototype," Pine said. "The part itself took less than a minute and a half to cut."
With a potential solution in hand, the next step was validation. Contractors were used to strengthen the reverse engineering process, help lower risk, ensure quality control and create a more thorough part-review for the fabrication process.
After a successful test, Marine Corps Lt. Col. Matthew Ludlow, the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion commander, decided to formally assume the risk of using the nonstandard part to get his vehicles back in the fight. By signing an official assumption-of-risk letter, he authorized the use of the fabricated washers to restore his unit's operational capability.
Once approved, 10 ACVs were brought back into service in a single morning, showcasing how this capability can be used not only on base, but also while forward deployed.
The impact was immediately noticed. As of December 2025, the 2nd Maintenance Battalion has produced more than 80 washers, bringing 15 nonoperational ACVs back into service. For a part that costs less than $2 to make, the effort bypassed a supply shortage that could have sidelined the fleet indefinitely, saving the Marine Corps countless days of lost training and readiness.
This success, however, highlights a different issue: the lack of access to technical data for parts. According to Pine, without the manufacturer's original blueprints, his Marines must reverse engineer components, a process that involves determining exact dimensions, material composition and strength requirements. This process can become especially problematic for load-bearing components.
The problem, Pine explained, is that the battalion doesn't have the testing parameters for the parts.
To mitigate this, the 2nd Maintenance Battalion now creates its own technical data packages from its reverse-engineered parts, a process validated by civilian engineers and machinists to ensure quality.
By demonstrating their capability to produce reliable parts under controlled processes, the maintenance battalion proves that even with contested supply lines, Marine ingenuity can provide a mission-focused solution. Their work builds a robust case for the organic capabilities that Marine innovation can bring to units, both on base and overseas.