ROBINS AFB, Ga. -- Air Force Reserve Financial Managers honed their readiness skills at this year’s Diamond Saber exercise at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey which concluded June 14, 2024.
Diamond Saber is a large multi-component finance exercise which brings members from across the Total Force together to train and operate in field conditions. The exercise, which included members of the Army and Marine Corps, offers a rare glimpse of what Citizen Airmen can expect in a contingency operation before actually deploying.
“Roughly 25 Reservists from throughout AFRC were among the 70 Total Force Airmen who demonstrated their expertise in a wide range of skills,” said Capt. Matthew Terkay, Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command Financial Management Analyst, Robins AFB, GA. “All of our Airmen were tested rigorously on the types of transactions and issues typically faced in a deployed environment.”
A U.S. Army Reserve led exercise, Diamond Saber evaluates servicemembers on a variety of warfighting functions such as disbursing operations, accounting, check cashing, “Eagle Cash” and budget scenarios among other daily tasks.
The first week of the training focused on building the foundation of knowledge and skills while also allowing participants the opportunity to network. Training encompassed a wide range of topics related to deployments to ensure everyone had a basic understanding of concepts essential to preparing for wartime taskings.
“While a few of the students had deployment experience, most of them did not making this part of the exercise particularly helpful,” said Master Sgt. Joshua Tibbitt, Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, 307th Bomb Wing, Barksdale AFB, LA.
The second week brought the participants to the field which challenged them and allowed their practical application of the classroom theory to be showcased. Nine teams were formed consisting of a Comptroller, Disbursing Agents, Cashiers, and Budget Technicians. This allowed the teams to mirror a typical FM office one could expect to be a part of in a deployed environment.
Financial Managers faced daily scenarios requiring participants to demonstrate the full spectrum of FM responsibilities, including hundreds of daily in-person customers. A total of 12 Observer, Coach/Trainers (OC/T) brought with them significant experience from their own combined deployment and home-station experiences.
“I have been to nearly every pre-deployment FM exercise, training event, and supported two deployments as a Budget Technician and Disbursing Agent,” said Tibbit. “This is by far the most realistic FM deployment training I have been a part of. Once students leave Diamond Saber, they will be familiar with the same tools that are used while supporting contingency operations today.”
Terkay agreed and said exercises like Diamond Saber are vital to the FM career field and are relevant to the transformation taking place throughout AFRC, as the Command prepares for a near peer threat in every aspect of its day-to-day operations.
“We need to constantly train and ensure the contingency roles are mastered before we send our Reservists out on deployments,” said Terkay. “Diamond Saber not only fulfills that objective but also allows Citizen Airmen to operate as part of the Total Force while supporting our joint partners.”