{"id":573658,"date":"2025-08-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=573658"},"modified":"2025-08-06T20:10:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T20:10:55","slug":"ny-army-guard-finance-soldiers-sharpen-skills-during-diamond-saber-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=573658","title":{"rendered":"NY Army Guard finance Soldiers sharpen skills during Diamond Saber exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n New York Army National Guard Soldiers of the 14th Finance Company running a simulated finance office during Exercise Diamond Saber in July at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst . The two-week long finance training exercise enables finance Soldiers to spend a week operating as they would when deployed. ( Courtesy Photo)
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\n Some of the simulated currency and identification cards used by members of the New York Army National Guard\u2019s 27th Finance Battalion conducting training during Exercise Diamond Saber in July at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst . The two-week long finance training exercise enables finance Soldiers to spend a week operating as they would when deployed. ( Courtesy Photo)
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\n New York Army National Guard 1st Lt. Michael Catalano, the executive officer of the 37th Finance Company, and the Disbursing Agent , disburses training funds to his cashiers at the beginning of the business day allowing them to perform transactions for the day during Exercise Diamond Saber in July at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst . The two-week long finance training exercise enables finance Soldiers to spend a week operating as they would when deployed. ( Courtesy Photo)
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JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST –One hundred and fifty members of the New York Army National Guard\u2019s 27th Battalion spent July 12 to 26 sharpening their field finance skills during exercise Diamond Saber 2025.<\/p>\n

The Army Reserve-run exercise at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBML) lets finance Soldiers practice the procedures they employ in austere locations overseas, according to Lt. Col. Sara Mitchell, the commander of the 27th Finance.<\/p>\n

Two of the 27th\u2019s four finance companies \u2014the 14th and the 37th, totaling about 60 Soldiers\u2014took part in the training. Soldiers from the headquarters and the 4th and 7th companies helped run the exercise, Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

Finance Soldiers manage money for the Army, and they disburse it to keep missions running, Mitchell explained.<\/p>\n

The exercise, which takes its name from the Finance Corp\u2019s diamond-shaped emblem, consists of one week of classroom instruction and one week of field training.<\/p>\n

The training at JBMDL involved about 500 finance personnel from the Army and other services.<\/p>\n

The Finance Corps is the smallest Army branch, with only about 3,000 Soldiers. Getting that many finance personnel in one place is great for professional development, Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

The annual training program launched in 2004, and the New York finance Soldiers have been participating since 2018, Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

The week-long field exercise is especially important because it gives Soldiers a chance to work with the Army\u2019s Deployable Disbursing System (DDS) computer system, said 1st Lt. Michael Catalano, the executive officer of the 37th Finance Company.<\/p>\n

There is a \u201csandbox\u201d\u2014a training simulation system\u2014that allows finance Soldiers to exercise with DDS, but it is difficult to implement back at the armory, Catalano said.<\/p>\n

During Diamond Saber, a network is set up so the full system can be employed, he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the only hands on training our Soldiers will get for something like dispersing,\u201d Catalano said.<\/p>\n

The 14th and 37th companies were selected for training because they are preparing to deploy overseas in 2026, Mitchell explained.<\/p>\n

Taking part in the Diamond Saber training let the Soldiers get used to working together and refine their standard operating procedures, Catalano said.<\/p>\n

Their major mission during deployment is dispersing funds used to pay contractors and make purchases, he said. Of course, the finance office will cash checks and collect money from Soldiers when required, Catalano added.<\/p>\n

1st Lt. Kenneth Roque, the commander of the 14th Finance Company, said the week of hands-on training was: \u201cextremely valuable because it gives us the opportunity to do \u2018reps\u2019 on what we actually do in the military.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soldiers lose some of the skills they develop in the field when they come back home, Roque said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving an operating or field training exercise like Diamond Saber allows us to keep those skills in mind,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Besides working with the computer systems, the Soldiers also got experience dispersing cash using special training currency that looks and feels like the real thing, according to Sgt. 1st Class Seth Wieland, a 27th member who helped oversee the training.<\/p>\n

The Soldiers had to deal with \u201cforeign\u201d funds as well as U.S. dollars and exchange the proper amounts of dollars for other currencies.<\/p>\n

They also had to deal with money that had been contaminated or captured from the enemy.<\/p>\n

And when the power went out in the training environment, the Soldiers tracked transactions manually.<\/p>\n

The Soldiers also practiced \u201cvault-to-vault\u201d transactions.<\/p>\n

This term is the term used when large sums of cash are transferred from one finance location to another, said Roque, who was responsible for $60 million during his last deployment to the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The finance Soldiers also took part in more traditional military training, practicing land navigation, conducting ever longer ruck marches, and working on Army Warrior Tasks.<\/p>\n

Diamond Saber was also valuable for her Soldiers who were not a part of the training audience, Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

These Soldiers served as observer controllers and as role players, interacting with the personnel being trained. They ensured the 27th\u2019s training objectives were met, Wieland said.<\/p>\n

While most of the 27th\u2019s officers work in the financial field, the rank-and-file finance Soldiers come from all walks of life, said Mitchell, an auditor in civilian life.<\/p>\n

While the 27th Finance is authorized 134 Soldiers, they currently have 220 personnel assigned.<\/p>\n

People like the unit\u2014there is a real feeling of family\u2014so Soldiers don\u2019t leave, and Soldiers want to join, Mitchell said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 New York Army National Guard Soldiers of the 14th Finance Company running a simulated finance office during Exercise Diamond Saber in July at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst . The two-week long finance training exercise enables finance Soldiers to spend a week operating as they would when deployed. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573660,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-573658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=573658"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":573664,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573658\/revisions\/573664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/573660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=573658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=573658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=573658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}