By Sgt. Nathan Hutchison
1st Theater Sustainment Command
Fame is a word normally associated with movie stars, musicians, athletes, maybe even a political official, but in the world of military civil affairs Lt. Col. Jack McLaughlin is one step from stardom. This sort of fame wouldn't appeal to just anyone, especially when the requests for appearance land you in the middle of Iraq.
It's not the most favorable spot for most people, but McLaughlin jumped at the opportunity to share his knowledge and see the progress in an area he had frequented during previous deployments.
His implied fame and travel to Iraq was the result of an article he had been quoted in years prior.
"When I was in Air Command and Staff College [McLaughlin] was quoted a couple times in an article on counterinsurgency," said Maj. Ryan H. Whittemore, executive officer and civil affairs advisor for a Military Transition Team in Mosul, Iraq. "This article was kind of a must read in regards to counterinsurgency and civil affairs training."
Whittemore knew McLaughlin from their days as artillerymen, so he contacted his renowned former battery commander.
"I told him I was headed to Mosul, and asked if he was familiar with the area," Whittemore said. "I found out that he was familiar with the area, and he was back in Kuwait."
McLaughlin, civil affairs officer-in-charge for 1st Sustainment Command (Theater), had spent a year in Talafar, a town just outside of Mosul during a civil affairs mission about three years ago. He offered to fly to Mosul and give Whittemore and his colleagues a class on civil affairs in Iraq.
"The thing with civil affairs is that it takes a while to see positive results from your actions,"McLaughlin said. "This was an opportunity to share some civil affairs knowledge, and I was able to really see the effects of our work since I was last here three years ago."
Whittemore's MiTT team was not the only attendees of McLaughlin's class. Other MiTT teams were extended an invitation.
"When I found out [McLaughlin] was flying up for [officer professional development], and I jumped right on it," said Marine Cpt. Ryan Barnes, Civil Affairs Advisor for 3rd Brig., 1st Div. Iraqi Army. "I learned a little bit about civil affairs at Expeditionary Warfare School, the Marine equivalent of Captains Career course, but I was glad to get this training by someone with experience in the area."
McLaughlin has spent over four years in the Middle East since the war began, and is also practiced in reading, speaking and understanding Arabic.
"He was able to come down here and associate theory with practical experience," Whittemore said. "I think it helped because he was former artillery. He was able to put it in a language we would understand."
Barnes, also an artilleryman, had been having some success with his unit's civil affairs mission so far, but was grateful for the extensive content McLaughlin provided.
"I haven't done a lot of research on the funding aspect, and the class really opened my eyes on how the financing process works," Barnes said. "It's better to know as much as possible about how the whole process works in order to present it to the command properly."
McLaughlin spoke on everything from presenting projects to a command to common courtesies and dialect in the region.
"[Civil affairs] is definitely a practiced art," Whittemore said. "Getting the opportunity to learn from Lt. Col. McLaughlin's training and experience in this area will be beneficial to our mission here."