Photo By Capt. Robert Wooldridge | A soldier uses a machine to count training aid cash during the Diamond Saber 26 exercise.
Soldiers, Marines, and Airmen from across the nation participated in the U.S. Army Reserve's annual Diamond Saber exercise at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, July 12–26. Diamond Saber is an Army Reserve-led finance training exercise that prepares Active Duty, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard personnel to execute wartime finance operations, including funding, disbursing, and resource management, with an emphasis on deployment readiness. see less
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310th ESC finance units support finance operations in Diamond Saber 26
310th ESC finance units support finance operations in Diamond Saber 26
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – It is the duty of any service member or government employee to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer funds. For members of the Finance Corps, this responsibility is the base palette from which they work as they handle a multitude of transactions, data analysis, and fund management.
The 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command is home to eight finance units, including the 398th Financial Support Center (FISC), 374th Finance Battalion, and six finance companies. Six of these units supported and augmented Diamond Saber 2026, July 12-26.
Diamond Saber is the Army’s only finance operations training exercise that integrates all three Army components and the joint force. It is a comprehensive and integrated experience that trains on multiple areas of finance at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels, and provides a validation platform for units preparing for mobilization.
310th ESC finance units have played a critical role at Diamond Saber since 2004, said Col. Jason Wynnycky, director, 398th FISC, and the exercise's senior trainer and deputy director.
"The purpose of Diamond Saber is to exercise as many of the financial management operational and technical competencies as possible—from tactical units to the Finance Support Center,” Wynnycky said. “Ultimately, our goal is to ensure Soldiers and units know their jobs so they can deploy and execute their missions successfully."
While not always visible, Finance Corps Soldiers support every warfighter on the battlefield, Wynnycky emphasized.
“By maintaining technical proficiency, we enable Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, and other joint partners to focus on their missions while we provide the financial support that keeps operations moving,” Wynnycky said.
"We're entrusted with public funds, and our responsibility is to ensure every dollar is managed properly. Strong internal controls reduce the risk of loss, fraud, waste, abuse, and error while ensuring we're good stewards of government resources,” Wynnycky added.
Capt. Preston Dawes, commander, 390th Finance Company, praised his team, who worked many extra hours in the months leading up to the exercise to provide a realistic experience for units being validated.
“My inject authoring and auditing teams went through each scenario and determined what no longer applies due to updates in Army doctrine and practices in theater, and then rewrote them for the modern finance mission,” said Dawes.
Dawes drew on his experience to provide guidance for Soldiers unaccustomed to financial operations in a field environment.
“A lot of us have deployed in the past, so we're bringing that experience and knowledge of how to execute in the modern environment,” Dawes continued. “Financial transactions require a lot of specificity, and we need to pay attention to the timing of when certain injects along the training narrative need to go out.”
The exercise was the first annual training for Spc. Katana Rodriguez of the 455th Finance Company, who said she enjoyed the joint training aspect.
“I like getting to work with other branches. That's my favorite part because I don't get to work with the Air Force and Marines all the time,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said the exercise was challenging, given that different military branches possess different processes and procedures, but she determined to meet that challenge.
“I'm trying to be like a sponge – absorb and retain as much information as I can,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez completed her initial Army finance training in October of 2025 and is confident the exercise will help increase her knowledge and expertise moving forward in her career.
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