According to the DVD special features to the film First Blood, Trautman's dossier records him as being born on July 6, 1929, in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Hilldale High School in Columbus in 1946. Trautman began his career in the United States Army after completing officer training at the University of Texas in 1950, where he also graduated with a bachelor's degree in Sociology. Commissioned a second lieutenant, Trautman was an infantry officer stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He was promoted to captain in 1956 and later to major in 1959. Between 1960 and 1963, Trautman underwent cross-training and became a CIA officer. He went on to join Covert operations in Chile, Guatemala and Cuba. Trautman first served in the Vietnam War as a First Division member of the Special Forces ("Green Berets") in 1964. He was first deployed to the Southern Vietnamese Theater May 1966. Four years later, he was promoted colonel in 1970. From 1970 to 1973, Colonel Trautman was unit commander of "Team Delta" that included his boot camp protégé John Rambo. He directed CIA operations near the Cambodian border from 1973 to 1979. It is likely that between 1979 and 1982, Trautman was assigned stateside to work in the Department of Defense as he alluded in the film to Rambo he "wasn't spending much time in Bragg lately" as his superiors had him in Washington D.C. "shining a seat with his ass." As an accomplished combat officer Trautman was a recipient of several awards including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Soldier's Medal, the Legion of Merit, 2 Bronze Stars, and the Purple Heart to name a few. At the time of Rambo's 1982 incident with local Washington state authorities, Trautman was listed as divorced with no children.