AUGUST 6, 2025 – One hundred and fifty members of the New York Army National Guard’s 27th Battalion spent July 12 to 26 sharpening their field finance skills during exercise Diamond Saber 2025.
The Army Reserve-run exercise at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, or JBMDL, lets finance Soldiers practice the procedures they employ in austere locations overseas, according to Lt. Col. Sara Mitchell, the commander of the 27th Finance.
Two of the 27th’s four finance companies — the 14th and the 37th, totaling about 60 Soldiers — took part in the training. Soldiers from the headquarters and the 4th and 7th companies helped run the exercise, Mitchell said.
Finance Soldiers manage money for the Army, and they disburse it to keep missions running, Mitchell explained.
The exercise, which takes its name from the Finance Corp’s diamond-shaped emblem, consists of one week of classroom instruction and one week of field training.
The training at JBMDL involved about 500 finance personnel from the Army and other services.
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.
The annual training program launched in 2004, and the New York finance Soldiers have been participating since 2018, Mitchell said.
The week-long field exercise is especially important because it gives Soldiers a chance to work with the Army’s Deployable Disbursing System, or DDS, computer system, said 1st Lt. Michael Catalano, the executive officer of the 37th Finance Company.
There is a “sandbox,” which is a training simulation system that allows finance Soldiers to exercise with DDS, but it is difficult to implement back at the armory, Catalano said.
During Diamond Saber, a network is set up so the full system can be employed, he explained.
“This is the only hands on training our Soldiers will get for something like dispersing,” Catalano said.
The 14th and 37th companies were selected for training because they are preparing to deploy overseas in 2026, Mitchell explained.
Taking part in the Diamond Saber training lets the Soldiers get used to working together and refine their standard operating procedures, Catalano said.
Their major mission during deployment is dispersing funds used to pay contractors and make purchases, he said. The finance office also will cash checks and collect money from Soldiers when required, Catalano added.
1st Lt. Kenneth Roque, the commander of the 14th Finance Company, said the week of hands-on training was “extremely valuable because it gives us the opportunity to do ‘reps’ on what we actually do in the military.”
In addition to working with the computer systems, the Soldiers also gained 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.
The Soldiers had to deal with foreign funds as well as U.S. dollars and exchange the proper amounts of dollars for other currencies.
They also had to deal with money that had been contaminated or captured from the enemy.
When the power went out in the training environment, the Soldiers tracked transactions manually.
The Soldiers also practiced “vault-to-vault” transactions.
This term refers to the process of transferring large sums of cash from one financial location to another, said Roque, who was responsible for $60 million during his last deployment to the Middle East.
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.
Diamond Saber also was valuable for Soldiers who were not part of the training audience, Mitchell said.
These Soldiers served as observer controllers and role players, interacting with the personnel being trained. They ensured the 27th’s training objectives were met, Wieland said.
While most of the 27th’s officers work in the financial field, the rank-and-file finance Soldiers have various professions, said Mitchell, an auditor in civilian life.
While the 27th Finance is authorized to have 134 Soldiers, they currently have 220 personnel assigned.
People like the unit’s feeling of family, so the unit’s Soldiers don’t leave and other Soldiers want to join, Mitchell said.
By Eric Durr
New York National Guard