A former staff writer for The Village Voice, he is the author of several military-themed novels including Dress Gray, which was adapted into a 1986 television film of the same name.
He was threatened with being sent to Vietnam, so he resigned his commission about thirteen months after graduating, receiving a "general discharge under other than honorable conditions.
He had previously written for the Voice as a cadet, submitting "conservative, right-wing letters" that the newspaper eventually started to publish.
[5][12] Another piece, written a few weeks after Truscott graduated from West Point, described the riot at the Stonewall Inn on June 27, 1969.
"[17] It was made into a two-part television movie in 1986, starring Hal Holbrook, Eddie Albert, and Alec Baldwin; Gore Vidal wrote the screenplay.
"[21] Booklist said that it was "a basic police procedural" but predicted the book would be "popular for its realistic dialogue couched in military protocol, which reflects the author's own past as a cadet.