Lt Col John Fyfe’s study of time-sensitive targeting during the 2003 invasion found the exception. In the Combined Air Operations Center, Royal Air Force officers served in key leadership positions alongside their American counterparts. They operated under more restricted rules of engagement. Fyfe noted that their “more reserved, conservative personalities” produced what he called “a very positive dampening effect on the sometimes harried, chaotic pace of offensive operations.” The contrast between shifts was visible: American leaders pressed ahead full bore, while British officers methodically reconsidered risk and cost-benefit tradeoffs before approving execution. On UK-led shifts, there were no friendly fire incidents and no significant collateral damage. On numerous occasions, Fyfe notes, the British officer in charge prevented the operation from getting ahead of itself. What the next generation of reformers would measure as latency was the mechanism that caught mistakes.