Master Warrant Officer D.S. Murdoch

Operations Master Warrant Officer

Master Warrant Officer Derek Murdoch joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 2006 as an Armoured Soldier. Upon completion of Developmental Period (DP) 1 – Armoured Soldier in summer 2007, he was badged into the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) and posted to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Edmonton.

In 2008, he deployed as a Leopard tank driver with A Squadron (Sqn) as a part of Task Force (TF) 3-08 operating out of Forward Operating Base (FOB) Ma’Sum Ghar in Panjwai District, Afghanistan. Upon completion of this tour, he was posted into Reconnaissance (Recce) Sqn where he participated in Operation (Op) PODIUM, providing security assistance to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and Whistler, BC. Shortly after Op PODIUM, he was posted into C Sqn and completed his tank gunner and loader courses. C Sqn was amalgamated with A Sqn in 2013, and WO Murdoch was then employed as a Troop Leader’s loader. Following the completion of his Armoured Crew Commander course in 2014, he was appointed as the Patrol Commander for the Regiment’s Canadian Patrol Concentration Team, achieving a bronze medal in that year competition. In 2015, he completed his Advanced Direct Fire Specialist course and was deployed on Op LENTUS, delivering aid to those effected by severe flooding in Southern Alberta as a Section Commander.

In 2016, WO Murdoch was posted to the Integrated Personnel Support Center (Edmonton) as a Section Commander. In fall of 2017, he returned to the Regiment as the Squadron Operations Sergeant for B Sqn and participated in Op LENTUS a second time, this time in Kelowna, BC to fight flooding in the Okanagan valley. Following his time in B sqn, he was posted to the British Columbia Regiment as the Regimental Ops WO.

Since being posted back to LdSH(RC) in 2019, he has was initially employed as a Troop WO in the last Regimental Recce Sqn. Recce Sqn was recreated as D Sqn, in which WO Murdoch has filled the positions of Sqn Ops WO, SQMS and SSM.  Master Warrant Officer Murdoch was promoted in December 2023 to his current rank and is now employed as the Regimental Operations Master Warrant Officer and the Squadron Sergeant Major of Regimental Headquarters.

MWO Murdoch currently resides in Edmonton with his wife Veronica, a Medical Radiological Technician, and their beautiful baby boy, Steele.