Burnaby, BC, Canada
Travis Trussler
Current Location: Prince George, BC, Canada
When I deployed to Bosnia in 2003, I was really a 23-year-old kid with no real-world perspective having never been outside of Canada. During work up training, I spent some extra time researching the country, its history, and the conflict, but it did nothing to prepare me for the real time sights and sounds of the post-war country. It is one thing to read about the poverty and it is quite another to actually see it.
One memory I clearly recall is visiting a small, two-story house made of cinder blocks where an elderly couple lived with their cow. We were in the neighborhood conducting a task for weapons and munitions collection; I think they called it Op Harvest. The house was small, with two floors, and the elderly couple lived upstairs as the ground floor was for a cow. The cow lived in the house along with a couple of chickens. Me, being a young lad from Canada, was thoroughly confused by why they lived with the cow inside the house, and it was not until our interpreter explained that the cow was the source of the building’s warmth, did I fully understand how little I understood of the region’s poverty. My tour in Bosnia was full of moments like this, where my version of the world was constantly challenged, and it re-shaped the way I saw my own life and the world. I had really won a cosmic lottery being born in Canada. I was extremely proud of the work we did, and how everywhere we went, we tried to leave the area in better shape and bring up the quality of life for the citizens. On our tour, the team built a new pedestrian bridge, cleared old ranges to return them to farmland, destroyed munitions, and helped support local law enforcement in dealing with organized crime. In essence, we were doing good; Canada was doing good. We were slowly, one day at time, one task at a time, taking the war-torn country of Bosnia and transforming it into what we have in Canada.
On my return to Canada, I had a really hard time hearing complaints or opinions on what our country was lacking. I remember once getting into a heated argument in a grocery store because a gentleman complained about the length of time it took for him to get a doctor’s appointment. This man, who drove a car, lived in a house with heat, was able to buy all the food he wanted, with no concerns about landmines or crime, had the audacity to complain about waiting for a doctor? Did he have any idea what people in other countries considered normal and how he had everything at his fingertips?
While my personal impact on the country of Bosnia may have been small, it left a huge impact on me and reshaped how I looked upon the world. On my return from this deployment, I became much more active with volunteering; it really tempered my outlook with much-needed perspective for a young man of 23.
Biography
Chief Warrant Officer Travis Trussler was born in Burnaby, BC in 1980 and spent his early years on Vancouver Island before moving to the Kootenay region of BC. In June 1997, while in Grade 11, he enrolled in the CAF Primary Reserve, 44 Field Engineer Squadron (44 FES), and completed basic training at the Western Area Training Center (WATC), Wainwright, AB. After graduating from Grand Forks Secondary School in 1998, Travis moved to Trail, BC where he worked in the construction trades while completing additional military training courses and periods of full-time military service. Travis completed his initial military Trades Training at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering, CFB Gagetown, NB, in 1999, and was advance promoted to the rank of Corporal on his return to the Squadron. He returned the next year to attend his Qualification Level 5A (Field Engineer) course and was awarded both the Top Candidate and the Esprit de Corps Award for his efforts.
Travis continued to serve with 44 FES while working the construction trades and was part of several military teams building permanent bridges along sections of the Trans Canada Trail through the Kootenay Region. Travis went on to complete his leadership training back at WATC over the summer of 2002, and was promoted to the rank of Master Corporal the following fall and took over as field section commander within the squadron. The following year, Travis was selected to augment Roto 12, Op Palladium and became part of 1 Section, 3 Troop, 13 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment and deployed to the former Yugoslavia in March 2003. On his return to Canada, Travis relocated to Vancouver, BC, and enrolled at the University of British Columbia, subsequently finishing his degree in Integrated Engineering in May 2010. During his time in Vancouver, Travis continued to serve with 6 Field Engineer Squadron, where he completed the required training to be promoted to Sergeant and held various roles from Section Commander to Reconnaissance Sergeant, and finally Troop Warrant. During this period, Travis was present on the stand-up parade of 39 Combat Engineer Regiment when 44 FES, 6 FES, and 54 FES merged thereby unifying the reserve engineers of BC under one banner. Over the summer of 2006, Travis deployed to Canadian Forces Station Alert to support the rock quarry and station support tasks and, in 2007, he graduated as the top Candidate on the Mountain Operations Instructor Course at the Advanced Warfare Centre, Trenton ON.
In the fall of 2011, Travis moved to Prince George, BC, to take a Project Management role with Ruskin Construction, a bridge-building company, and become a part of the return, to the City of Prince George, of The Rocky Mountain Rangers, a primary reserve, light infantry regiment. As Bravo Company, The Rocky Mountain Rangers re-established themselves in the city, Travis held key leadership and instructor positions as the company grew from five members to sixty-five. In 2019, Travis was able to deploy on a second mission, this time as part of Operation Impact to Taji, Iraq with the Explosive Threat Training Team in the role of Operations Sergeant-Major from August 2019 through to February 2020.
In December 2019 Master Warrant Officer Trussler was named to the Order of Military Merit on the 70th List and was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer in the fall of 2020, assuming the appointment of Regimental Sergeant-Major for The Rocky Mountain Rangers. He currently lives in Prince George, BC with his wife and two sons where he works as a Senior Project Manager and Professional Engineer. When not at work, Travis is an active volunteer with Scouts Canada and several other community groups.
Travis and Pete.
1 Section, Bosnia, 2003. Travis is second from the right.