The Royal Regiment of Canada Association

Lieutenant Colonel Cliff Trollope, CD1 - Profile

Lieutenant Colonel Cliff Trollope is a native of Chatham Ontario. He joined the Canadian Forces and entered the Royal Military College of Canada in 1984. Active in all aspects of cadet life, and in particular as part of the RMC hockey program, he graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts in History. At graduation he held the third highest command position in the Cadet Wing and received the Royal Canadian Artillery Association Award as the top combat arms cadet in his graduating class.

Upon graduation and receiving his commission in the spring of 1988, Lieutenant Colonel Trollope joined the First Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Calgary. From 1988 to 1991 he served two years as a platoon commander and one year as the unit's Assistant Adjutant. As a platoon commander he led his platoon to a first place finish in the regimental patrol competition and on a number of exercises, including a deployment to northern Norway as part of NATO's ACE Mobile Force. From March to August 1991 he deployed with the unit to Cyprus for a six month United Nations peace keeping operation.

Following the Cyprus tour, and promotion to Captain in 1991, he was posted to the Infantry School in Gagetown New Brunswick. While at the Infantry School Lieutenant Colonel Trollope underwent sniper training, was the course officer on a number of Small Arms Instructor Courses, and the Course Officer for an Infantry Officer Phase 3 course. He completed his tour at the school as second in command of C Company. Also while posted to the Infantry School he completed the Canadian Forces Staff School Course, the Intermediate Tactics Course, and took courses to become functionally bi-lingual.

In 1995 he was posted to the Second Battalion PPCLI in Winnipeg Manitoba and began a very rewarding seven-year tour with this unit. Lieutenant Colonel Trollope's two years as a rifle company second in command included a number of mechanized and dismounted exercises, and training with the US Army's 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell Kentucky and Fort Polk Louisiana. His time as a company second in command concluded with a six-month tour in Bosnia as part of the first SFOR mission from January to July 1997. While on tour he was selected to attend the 5-month Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College (CLFCSC) course in Kingston and he began this program immediately following the Bosnia mission. Lieutenant Colonel Trollope graduated from CLFCSC in December 1997 as the top student, an achievement for which he was awarded a PPCLI Regimental Commendation.

From January 1998 to October 1999 he served as the 2 PPCLI Training Officer, Adjutant, and Operations Officer. During this period he deployed in support of the 1998 Ice Storm in Quebec, and planned a number of training and live fire exercises for the battalion.

Lieutenant Colonel Trollope took command of A Company 2 PPCLI in November 1999 and was promoted to the rank of Major in January 2000. Following an extensive pre-deployment training program, he deployed again to Bosnia in September 2000 and commanded A Company in that theatre of operations until April 2001. Based largely on his command experience while in Bosnia, his paper "Mission Command in Peace Support Operations" was published in the Army Doctrine and Training Bulletin.

After completing a Regimental Trooping of the Colours parade with A Company in July 2001, Lieutenant Colonel Trollope relinquished command of the rifle company and, as the senior company commander in the unit, assumed command of Administration Company. His year in command of Administration Company culminated when he planned and led 2 PPCLI's move and combat service support operations in support of the 2002 G8 Summit in Kananaskis Alberta.

Lieutenant Colonel Trollope was selected to attend the Command and Staff Course at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto in 2002 and he began the ten-month course in August of that year. While undergoing the Command and Staff Course program he also completed a Masters of Defence Studies degree through the Royal Military College of Canada, graduating in June 2003. Following the course he was posted to the staff of the Canadian Forces College where he served until 2004.

Promoted to his current rank in 2004, Lieutenant Colonel Trollope was posted to Land Force Central Area Headquarters as the G1. In 2005 he moved to the newly created Chief of Plans (G5) position in the headquarters. Among other tasks as the G5 he was responsible for creating the plan to transform LFCA HQ to Joint Task Force Central (JTFC) as part of Canada Command and the renewed focus on domestic operations. With the transformation complete in February 2006, Lieutenant Colonel Trollope assumed the position of J3, Head of Domestic Operations, while still retaining his G5 responsibilities. For his work and leadership in integrating all Canadian Forces assets in Ontario with the responsible civil authorities he was awarded the Commander Canada Command Commendation.

In July 2006, and while still relatively junior in rank, Lieutenant Colonel Trollope was selected to fill the position of Area Chief of Staff, a position normally held by a Colonel. He held the position of Chief of Staff until February 2007 when he reverted back to the G5 position. Along with the regular operational and business planning responsibilities as the G5, Lieutenant Colonel Trollope was responsible to lead the planning of Reserve Activation for Task Force 3-08 and the Joint Task Force Afghanistan Headquarters. He and his planning team worked closely with the Land Staff, 2 CMBG, and the Reserve CBGs with the end result being close to 500 Reservists from LFCA will be deploying for operations in Afghanistan in 2008.

Lieutenant Colonel Trollope retired from the Regular Force in November 2007 and in the private sector he manages business continuity operations for Aviva Canada, the second largest property and casualty insurance company in Canada. He and his wife Ginette Hamel have two teenage children and live in Toronto. Outside of work at Aviva he also assists in the management and operations of Ginette Hamel Physiotherapy Services, and Ginette Hamel Enterprises Inc. Along with spending time with his family, Lieutenant Colonel Trollope's main leisure activities are fitness training, hockey, and reading.

2008 Feb TOC

Main Site