LITTLE ROCK ARI FORCE BASE, Ark. -- The 19th Comptroller Squadron (CPTS) conducted the Air Force’s first Iron Ledger evaluation to assess the squadron’s deployment readiness at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, July 28-30, 2026.
Using real-world scenarios and operational readiness training, Iron Ledger was created by the Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management (SAF/FM), to assess and prepare comptrollers to deploy to any austere location and immediately establish financial operations.
“Over the last fifteen or twenty years, we’ve mostly deployed to established locations where we didn’t have to use the skills of setting up a base,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Seney, 19th CPTS senior enlisted leader. “We’re really trying to bring our career fields focus back to preparing for those sorts of future contingency operations where we would have to fall in on nothing and help the deployed commander establish the base and get everything set up.”
The evaluation spanned over three days and as the scenario upfolded, Airmen transitioned from building an austere operating location to providing the full range of expeditionary financial services, including cash disbursement and foreign currency exchange.
With three-quarters of the team dual-assigned to the 19th Combat Air Base Squadron (CABS), these finance troops are gaining the essential skills needed to deploy seamlessly alongside a Deployable Combat Wing (DCW) tasking.
“Sometimes when you train it’s individual, and then you all meet deployed for the first time and it can be hard to navigate,” said 1st Lt. Michael Stanis, 19th Combat Air Base Squadron financial management officer in charge. “Getting the opportunity to work alongside the CABS first before going to downrange, gives me a lot of confidence that we’ll be prepared.”
To further test their readiness capabilities, the Airmen participated in a timed combat fitness test which encompassed exercises such as an 800-meter run, buddy carries, weighted sprints and “million-dollar” weighted pushups.
Beyond physical testing, Airmen were tasked to don Mission-Oriented Protective Posture gear and carry out routine responsibilities, proving their ability to remain agile and mission-ready in uncertain environments.
“This is not only a benchmark, but this also helps them get prepared for the real world,” said Master Sgt. Daniel Bodine, 19th CPTS finance customer service flight chief. “Like a real-world scenario, it may not be exactly the same, but these minor stress tests are going to help them in the long run.”
On the final day of the evaluation, all the elements and activities from days one and two were integrated and brought together, allowing for a comprehensive assessment that demonstrated a clear and complete understanding of all the skills required of a fully capable, deployable task unit.
“Excellence in all we do is the core value we as a unit proclaimed through Iron Ledger,” said Bodine. “We did this as a team. We finished together through the difficult times.”
With Iron Ledger behind them, the 19th CPTS continues to lead the way in how the Air Force prepares deployable forces globally establishing a benchmark that will guide comptrollers squadron across the globe over the coming months.