Soldiers had an impact in area of operations (5)
I believe the answer is:
orbit
'area of operations' is the definition.
'orbit' can be an answer for 'area' (synonyms). I am not certain of the 'of operations' bit.
'soldiers had an impact' is the wordplay.
'soldiers' becomes 'OR' (military abbreviation for other ranks).
'had an impact' becomes 'bit' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'or'+'bit'='ORBIT'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for orbit that I've seen before include "Path of planet etc" , "Particular environment" , "Circle - influence" , "Path made by one body revolving around another" , "Moon's track" .)