Chilliwack’s Tristan Davis used to fight battles on the football field with the G.W. Graham Grizzlies.
Now, the 24-year-old is waging war against terrorism on the high seas.
Davis holds the rank of Sailor First Class, serving on the Canadian warship HMCS Calgary, and he recently played a key role in Operation ARTEMIS. The counter-terrorism and maritime security mission took place somewhere in the Middle East and a successful outcome earned Davis and the ship’s crew a place in the Royal Canadian Navy record book.
Davis is part of a boarding party, a tactical unit made up different specialists using the call sign ‘Alpha Wave.’
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| Tristan Davis and other crew members stationed on HMCS CALGARY conduct counter-smuggling operations on June 7, 2021 in the Arabian Sea during OPERATION ARTEMIS. (Photo by Cpt. Jeffery Klassen, HMCS CALGARY, Public Affairs Officer, c2021 DND/MDN CANADA) |
Operation ARTEMIS saw HMCS Calgary conducting ‘maritime interdiction’ operations, intercepting suspicious vessels and seizing illicit goods (usually narcotics). Davis functions as Alpha Wave’s medic, but the entire group is trained in security, conducting vessel searches and handling contraband. Alpha Wave made the 15th seizure for HMCS Calgary on its most recent deployment.
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That number broke the record for the most seizures by any ship in the history of Operation ARTEMIS, and Alpha Wave added seizures 16 and 17 before they were done.
“It’s great being a part of HMCS Calgary’s massive success and it’s great to be able to go out there and use our training,” Davis said. “Our work is helping to disrupt the flow of illicit revenue streams to terrorists in the region and it’s great to be a part of that.”
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| Members of HMCS CALGARY conduct counter-smuggling operations on June 6, 2021 in the Arabian Sea during OPERATION ARTEMIS, as part of Combined Task Force 150.
(Photo by Corporal Lynette Ai Dang, HMCS CALGARY, Imagery Technician c2021 DND/MDN CANADA) |
Davis joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 2013 partly because he wanted to follow in his father Rodney’s footsteps. Rodney served in Afghanistan as a Combat Engineer. Davis joined the Royal Canadian Navy as a steward but really had his eyes set on tactical work. When he joined the crew of HMCS Calgary in 2019, he immediately volunteered for the boarding team.
Before leaving Chilliwack to join the fight against terrorism, Davis was a member of G.W. Graham’s 2013 provincial championship football team and he worked at Joint Force Tactical, a tactical kit supply shop at 103-5725 Vedder Road.
Rodney, along with mom Candice and siblings Austin and Caitlyn, still live in Chilliwack.
