BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Tech. Sgt. John Moore, a 460th Comptroller Squadron Airman was the only member outside of the Pacific Air Force (PACAF) to participate in Pacific Angel 23-2, a humanitarian and civil-military operations exercise held in Mongolia.
Moore, the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) in charge of Financial Operations within his unit, acted as a paying agent. It was his responsibility to go out and make purchases for supplies or services in support of the operation.
“We would have someone from the contracting office come along with us, as they’ve set up with a vendor, or someone we are buying from,” Moore remarked. “They figure out the logistics, and make sure that they’re able to provide their service or good, and then we’ll go along to make sure that what they’re buying is legal and within regulations.”
Moore detailed how on some occasions; he would be escorted by Security Forces for some purchases.
“We’d usually carry around a big bag of cash, and then make payments on the spot with those,” Moore recalled. He would cash checks at the embassy in Mongolia to then be used for purchases.
Because Tech. Sgt. Moore was the only member picked up for this exercise outside of PACAF, he shared his appreciation for what it took to get him there.
“I am very appreciative to my leadership, because somehow, PACAF had said ‘Hey, we’re going to open this up and let some other Major Commands volunteer to help support this exercise,’” Moore retold, recalling each step. “It was just an awesome hard work of my leadership team all the way up to the Chief seeing this opportunity come by and snatching it as soon as they saw it.”
After spending roughly three weeks on the exercise, Moore offered how the experience can better himself as an NCO. “We have to do training on how to do these types of operations, in a deployed or contingency environment,” Moore explained. “But unfortunately, a lot of us do not get the opportunity to go and do them, leaving our knowledge in books or how it is supposed to work. Now, having the ability to say ‘Hey, I’ve actually done this, and this is what it looks like’, I can give real life experience.”
For Moore, this doesn’t only impact him and his growth, but offers a glimpse to young Airmen that there are incredible opportunities out there.
“It shows them there are more opportunities out there,’ Moore exclaimed. “There is cool stuff you can go do. If you aren’t feeling a connection to the mission, you might be able to do something like this where you are directly paying people for the mission, with actual money from the bag that you have with you.”