CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES -- While working with Marines in the data systems and satellite communications (SATCOM) fields, Camacho and his team enabled the communications section during the pre-deployment training and deployment by ensuring they had operable gear. “As a whole, the maintenance team provided all scopes of communication support,” states the New York native. “We dabble in the operator realm regarding getting the gear set up and troubleshooting.”
Trouble shooting for the communications section while working with the Navy created new challenges. Camacho and his team had to learn how to repair and operate gear they had never worked with. He repaired the inner circuits of the comm gear, fixed and replaced computers, radios, antennas and batteries. He coordinated with satellite communications operators to help transmit signals between the different ships, helping maintain consistent communication between all three ships in the fleet. Whenever issues arose that stumped his team, he would dig through the publications and consolidated memorandum receipts (CMRs) to learn more about the gear he was working with.
In 2023, he taught himself welding and plasma cutting, successfully reverse-engineering antenna mounts. He went on to build and install thirteen mounts, significantly reducing costs and increasing warfighting readiness for the 24th MEU. Each mount held a starlink box, fastened to the outside of the ship, connected to cables running through the inside of the ship into the landing forces operation center (LFOC). In case of a power outage or loss of internet throughout the ship, the LFOC could maintain power and connectivity due to the mounts created and installed by Camacho. Due to Camacho’s innovation and foresight, the 24th MEU could continue operations and maintain communication outside of the ships.
Sgt. Camacho's nomination for the Pfc. Littleton Award is a testament to his advice for Marines striving for similar success. "Always strive to be an asset," he notes. "Don't fall unto the general population. Find something that you can provide. Find a gap or a lapse of requirements the command needs, and fill that. Be the go-to guy."
Winning the PFC Littleton award proved to be a short-lived victory, and he has already committed to his next endeavor; becoming an explosive ordinance disposal technician.