MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — The 35th Fighter Wing (FW) drove innovation across the Pacific last week by hosting the wing’s first-ever Layer 1: Foundations of Additive Manufacturing and Design course, marking a milestone in how the Air Force equips Airmen to design, build and field solutions at the speed of need.
The five-day training brought together maintainers, engineers and innovators from across the Air Force to master rapid problem-solving and mission-focused design skills. It aimed to prepare Airmen to create everything from critical aircraft components to custom tools, medical devices and small unmanned aerial system parts.
“This course is about creating warfighters who think, adapt, and build at the edge of the battlespace,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Andrew Schaeffer, Project Arc director of innovation and instructor of the Layer 1 course at Misawa Air Base. “In doing so, we are cultivating a new generation of Airmen who are not only operators and maintainers, but innovators who can out-think, out-build, and out-pace any challenge thrown at them.”
The course was structured to take Airmen from orientation to certification in one week:
- Day 1: Orientation, software setup and an introduction to computer aided design (CAD) principles.
- Days 2–3: CAD fundamentals, blueprint interpretation, material selection and beginner-level 3D printing.
- Day 4: Project execution, applying learned skills to operational needs.
- Day 5: Documentation, proficiency evaluation, certification and graduation.
Students quickly transitioned from fundamentals to hands-on problem-solving, tackling scenarios tied directly to the mission by the end of the week. Completed projects by the students included designing a key adapter for an aircraft refueling system, producing brackets for aircraft safety systems, creating a heat-resistant protective cover for an ejection seat, building a full-sized display fixture for munitions labeling and fabricating a replacement cap for an oil servicing cart used on ground equipment.
“Recognizing a problem exists is helpful. Understanding the engineering concepts used to design the parts and system is wonderful,” said Chief Master Sgt. Timothy Mackey, Air Force Works Project Arc senior enlisted leader. “Using that understanding to recreate or manufacture improved solutions of those systems and parts is perfection.”
Graduates left the course ready to take on real-world challenges, applying their new skills to design and deliver solutions that keep the Air Force combat-ready, even in contested and austere environments.
“I joined this course to become a more well-rounded Airman and provide solutions to problems others in my career field may have,” said Senior Airman Chase Sherer, 35th Maintenance Squadron egress systems journeyman. “This class gave me a completely new perspective on problems and the skills to fix them. It enabled me to find ongoing issues that can take months to fix and fix them within days.”
The course builds on Misawa’s Project Falcon Forge, a 35th FW-led initiative that earned the Air Force’s first authorization to reverse engineer and design aircraft components in CAD software for industrial-grade 3D printing. That groundbreaking approval has already enabled the wing to produce and field mission-critical parts faster than traditional supply channels, cutting downtime and boosting combat-ready aircraft availability.
“Orville and Wilbur Wright ushered aviation into a new era, and they did it by being all things at once: engineers, mechanics and aviators,” said Mackey. “It’s time we return to that mindset and let our Airmen unleash those same capabilities at scale.”
By pioneering additive manufacturing training and leading initiatives like Project Falcon Forge, the 35th FW continues to set the standard for innovation across the Air Force. The wing’s ability to rapidly develop and field solutions not only advances the Air Force’s operational agility but also ensures Misawa AB remains at the forefront of technological progress and mission readiness in the Indo-Pacific.