Financial managers, firefighter graded on deployed operations during exercise

  • Published
  • By 1st. Lt. Marnee A. C. Losurdo
  • 512th Airlift Wing
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  The masked man burst through the door and pointed his gun at her. He screamed, “Get down!” He ran over to the 115-pound safe, picked it up and ran out the door. The robbery took less than a minute. 

It had been a hectic week for Senior Master Sgt. Dee Priar, 512th Airlift Wing Financial Management superintendent. Her office was robbed, her building caught on fire, her base was bombed and chemically attacked, and she received a third degree burn and a compound fracture. 

Sergeant Priar’s financial management and military skills were put to the test during the Air Mobility Command’s Inspector General Exercise Oct. 31. to Nov. 6 at Alpena Air National Guard Base, Mich. 

Sergeant Priar was accompanied by Tech. Sgt. Joy Clifford and Senior Airman Arkeya Langston, 512th FM technicians, and Senior Master Sgt. Michael Baize, 512th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter. They, along with active duty, Guard and Reserve members from 11 units across the United States participated in the exercise, a simulated deployment to Nagu Air Base, Korea. 

The exercise evaluated unit members’ ability to prepare, deploy and operate in a combat environment, said Sergeant Priar. 

“When we deploy our job is to provide military pay, travel pay and manage the budget and vendor pay services,” said Sergeant Priar. “If we are going to a bare base, we need to know what we have to set up to be operational and what situations we might encounter in a deployed environment.” 

Sergeant Priar served 21 years on active duty and joined the Liberty Wing in September. She has undergone 15 inspections and exercises, but this was her first time as the team chief. This was the first exercise that 512th FM reservists have participated in since reservists were assigned to the office in 2000. 

“We got experience in different fields of finance,” said Sergeant Priar, who was the dispersing agent responsible for unit funds and reported to the commander.
“We also learned where our strengths and weaknesses were and where we needed to adapt our training,” said Sergeant Clifford, who, in civilian life, is a budget analyst for the 436th Financial Management Office. 

During the exercise, Sergeant Clifford was the paying agent, and Airman Langston, an activated reservist who processes travel vouchers for 436th FM, worked in the cashier’s office cashing checks and exchanging foreign currency. 

The reservists also had to react to situations that occur in a combat environment. They wore chemical warfare gear, responded to base attacks, conducted unexploded ordnance sweeps, looked for signs of contamination and conducted self aid and buddy care on their wounded counterparts. 

The wing’s sole firefighter who participated in the exercise recalled the chemical warfare training being the most challenging. 

“I don’t like (Mission Oriented Protective Posture) gear, but after being in it for an extended period of time I learned to accept it and deal with it,” said Sergeant Baize. “It became the norm, so it really wasn’t that bad.” 

For Sergeant Clifford, the exercise hit home as she is deploying next year. 

“It was very realistic training,” she said. “I felt like I was in a hostile environment, and it opened my eyes to what we would see if we were deployed to a hostile area such as Iraq.” 

As of Nov. 22, the exercise results had not yet been released; however, Sergeant Priar said they received positive feedback from their evaluators.