Colonel W. Scott Raesler

Assistant Chief of Staff (Training), 3rd Canadian Division Canadian Army

Colonel Raesler enrolled in the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada as a private soldier in 1986. Commissioned as an Officer in 1988, Colonel Raesler has since filled various leadership roles with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 39 Canadian Brigade Group, 3rd Canadian Division, the Canadian Forces Peace Support Training Centre and the Canadian Army Doctrine and Training Centre.

Colonel Raesler’s first operational deployment was in 1993, as a platoon commander and company second in command with the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, as part of Operation Harmony in Croatia. In 2001, he returned to the Balkans, seconded from the Canadian Forces to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, where he served as a human intelligence gatherer as part of the UN Security Information Coordination Cell (SICC), before leaving the mission in 2004. During his Kosovo secondment, Colonel Raesler also earned his M.A. in Conflict Analysis and Management through Royal Roads University.

Following this secondment, Colonel Raesler Transferred to the Supplementary Reserve and accepted United Nations assignments in Afghanistan, Haiti and the Middle East between 2003 and 2007 where he filled various roles as a Security Advisor within the United Nations Department of Safety and Security.

In 2007, Colonel Raesler returned to Canada and, in 2008, transferred back to the Primary Reserve where he was promoted to Major in December 2009. In January 2011, following two years commanding a rifle company, he was appointed Acting Commanding Officer of his unit and in January 2012 was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and appointed Commanding Officer of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. Following unit command, Colonel Raesler was employed in several key staff assignments before being promoted to his present rank in late 2018 and assigned to the Canadian Forces Liaison Council. Col Raesler assumed command of 39 Canadian Brigade Group in 2021 and, on handing over command in 2024, assumed his current role as Assistant Chief of Staff (Training) at 3rd Canadian Division where he has since deployed to Indonesia, Malaysia and Ghana to conduct Operational Planning training for senior officers from across Asia and Africa.

Since leaving the United Nations, Colonel Raesler has worked extensively as a security and emergency management consultant. Currently, Colonel Raesler is the president of 3Si Risk Strategies Inc., a private risk mitigation company.