Bernard W. Rogers

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Bernard W. Rogers

Bernard William Rogers (born July 16, 1921 in Fairview , Kansas , † October 27, 2008 in Falls Church , Virginia ) was a general in the US Army , was the 28th Chief of Staff of the Army from 1976 to 1979 , had from 1979 until 1987 in command of the US European Command and was also the 8th Supreme Allied Commander Europe .

Military career

Training and first uses

Rogers studied at Kansas State University for a year and, after receiving admission, moved to the US Military Academy at West Point in 1940 . He graduated from the academy in June 1943 as a Second Lieutenant and was then trained as an infantry officer at Fort Benning at the US Army Infantry School . Rogers was promoted to provisional first lieutenant in December 1943 and served in the US 275th Infantry Regiment until 1944. He then returned to the Academy at West Point, where he taught economics, government and history until 1946. In this role he was promoted to temporary captain in February 1945 . From 1946 to 1947 Rogers served as a staff officer with the High Commissioner of Austria and the commander of the 7th US Army . After the end of the Second World War , Rogers studied in 1947 as a Rhodes scholarship holder at the University of Oxford in England . He graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, politics and economics. He was promoted to the permanent rank of Captain while studying at Oxford.

Staff assignments

After graduating from Oxford, Rogers served as a staff officer in the command of the US Army field troops from 1950 to 1951. In this position he was promoted to provisional major in July 1951 . In 1952 he completed the advanced course at the Infantry School in Fort Benning and was transferred to Korea from 1952 to 1953 , where he commanded the 3rd Battalion of the 9th US Infantry Regiment. In August 1953 he was promoted to interim Lieutenant Colonel . From 1953 to 1954 he served as a staff officer in the command of the United Nations Command for Korea and staff intelligence officer of the command. In 1955 Rogers returned to the United States and graduated from the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . He then commanded the 1st Battalion of the 23rd US Infantry Regiment from 1955 to 1956 and served in the coordination department in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) until 1958 . From 1958 to 1959 he served as the first officer and senior advisor to the CSA. During this tenure, he was promoted to permanent major in January 1959 and provisional colonel in September . He was given the opportunity to graduate from the US Army War College in 1960. He then took over command of the 1st Combat Group of the 19th US Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, stationed in Europe from 1960 to 1961 . Until 1962 he served in the same division as chief of staff and as commander of the operational division of the United States Army Europe .

General Staff Service

When he returned to the United States in 1962, he assumed the post of military assistant and first officer to the Chairman of the United Joint Chiefs of Staff until 1966 . In January 1964, Rogers was promoted to permanent Lieutenant Colonel and in October 1966 to Provisional Brigadier General . From 1966 to 1967 he completed his tour of duty in the Vietnam War , where he served as assistant division commander of the 1st Infantry Division . He then returned to the Academy again at West Point and took over the post of commander of the cadets until 1969 . In this capacity he was promoted to permanent colonel in June 1968.

He then took over command of the 5th Infantry Division from 1969 to 1970 and also of the Fort Carson base . In February 1970 he was promoted to temporary major general and in August 1971 to permanent brigadier general. While serving as the Army's deputy chief of staff for personnel from 1972 to 1974, he was promoted to interim lieutenant general in November 1972 and permanent major general in June 1973.

In November 1974 Rogers was finally promoted to provisional general and took over command of the US Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson from 1974 to 1976 . On October 1, 1976, Rogers was named 28th Chief of Staff of the Army. He held this post until June 21, 1979. During his tenure, the Army was converted into a force comprising 24 divisions and a modernization process was set in motion. a. should raise the standard of living of soldiers. On July 1, 1979, Rogers was appointed 8th Supreme Allied Commander Europe and had already taken over the US European Command on June 27th . In that capacity, he served until June 26, 1987, when he retired. The Kießling affair also fell during this time, with Rogers getting the ball rolling when he described Kießling as a bad cast.

Rogers had been married to Ann Ellen Jones since 1944.

Awards

His awards include a .: the Distinguished Service Cross , the Defense Distinguished Service Medal , the Silver Star , the Legion of Merit with triple oak leaves, the Distinguished Flying Cross with double oak leaves, the Bronze Star with an award for bravery and a double oak leaf, the Air Medal with an award for bravery, the Army Commendation Medal with oak leaves, as well as various foreign awards a. a. from France, Japan, Italy, Peru, Colombia, Korea and Germany. Rogers also has the following honorary doctorates : Dr. jur. from Boston University , Dr. jur. from Akron University and an honorary doctorate in civil law from the University of Oxford .

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of the Military Awards:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nina Grunenberg: So suddenly the four stars faded. In: Zeit Online . January 13, 1984. Retrieved September 30, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Wiedemeyer: From the morass to the abyssal swamp. Deutschlandfunk , January 3, 2009, accessed September 30, 2017 .
predecessor Office successor
Alexander M. Haig, Jr. Supreme Allied Commander Europe
1979–1987 		John R. Galvin
personal data
SURNAME Rogers, Bernard W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rogers, Bernard William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American general
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Fairview , Kansas
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 2008
Place of death Falls Church , Virginia