Stories of Smart Power: Terron Sims

Terron Sims, Former Captain, U.S. Army

When my unit,1st Squadron, 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment, extended in April 04, we deployed to Al Kut, where I served as the Wasit Province’s primary military liaison officer. In this capacity, I worked directly alongside Great Britain’s equivalent of our State Dept because they had command-and-control of civic (government) operations in Central-South Iraq. As the Wasit Province military liaison officer, working alongside the British was amazing because they had 6 men performing the roles that my squadron commander and I filled on our own when we were in Baghdad (May 03 – April 04). Though I was less involved in their daily operations as I would have liked, I quickly came to respect how the British operated because they were experts in the fields in which they were working and had a base knowledge of development and diplomacy. Although we are proud of the phenomenal job 1st Squadron did in Baghdad, our British counterparts achieved success because of their background and training. In all, success was achieved through near perfect execution of the combined arms team and a willing and able, fully engaged, civilian counterpart.