Photo By Senior Airman Tyrique Barquet | U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Gutierrez Raikenly, 31st Comptroller Squadron financial...... read more read more
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AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — Airmen from the 31st Fighter Wing strengthened expeditionary finance and contracting capabilities during Exercise Denarii et Pactum April 28–29, 2026, at Aviano Air Base, Italy.
Denarii et Pactum, Latin for money and agreements, is a first-of-its-kind exercise in the U.S. Air Forces in Europe. This training brought Airmen together from the 31st Comptroller Squadron and the 31st Contracting Squadron to simulate real-world deployment conditions where access to computers, networks and communication systems is limited.
“This training is about making our Airmen more deployable,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Raymond King, 31st CPTS financial analysis flight chief. “We’re putting them in situations where they have to acquire goods from the local economy, compute transactions manually and still accomplish the mission in a hostile or resource-limited environment.”
The exercise was developed following lessons learned from 31st CPTS paying agent operations during Exercise Anatolian Eagle 26. The experience highlighted the need for Airmen to maintain mission capability in environments where technology may be degraded or denied.
“We didn’t want the first time finance and contracting work side by side to be downrange,” King said. “This gives them a baseline understanding of what each agency's side does so they can operate more effectively together when it matters most.”
Unlike their day-to-day roles supporting military pay, travel vouchers and entitlements, the participants executed expeditionary responsibilities like paying agents and contracting representatives. The training emphasized accountability of funds, legal compliance and decision-making in unfamiliar and high-stress conditions. Airmen also gained exposure to key contracting concepts, like blanket purchase agreements and the management of U.S. and foreign currency.
“At the beginning, everyone stayed in their own lanes,” said King. “But by the second day, they were sitting next to each other, talking through problems and understanding what happens before and after their part of the process.”
Exercise Denarii et Pactum established a benchmark for future cross-functional training across the Air Force, demonstrating how integrated comptroller and contracting teams can develop operationally without being actively deployed.
“Everyone in the contracting office has told me that they've gotten a lot out of this training,” said Tech. Sgt. Chistopher Rose, 31st CONS plans and programs noncommissioned officer in charge. “We’d like to see this become a recurring event; ideally every six months.”
| Date Taken: | 05.05.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 05.07.2026 04:14 |
| Story ID: | 564613 |
| Location: | IT |
| Web Views: | 17 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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