Felix Michael Rogers (July 6, 1921 – April 23, 2014), usually known as Michael Rogers, was a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

and the former commander of the

Air Force Logistics Command An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

, with headquarters at

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. The command mission is to provide worldwide technical logistics support to all Air Force active and Reserve force activities,

Military Assistance Program The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on October 6, 1949. For U.S. foreign policy, it was the first U.S. military foreign aid legislation of the Cold War era, and initially to ...

countries, and designated

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

agencies. He is a graduate of the

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

Biography

Early life

Rogers was born in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

, in 1921. He graduated from

Newton North High School Newton North High School, formerly Newton High School, is the larger and longer-established of two public high schools in Newton, Massachusetts, United States, the other being Newton South High School. It is located in the village of Newtonvill ...

in Newtonville in 1939. He enlisted as a private in April 1942, became an aviation cadet in August 1942, and completed pilot training and received a commission as a second lieutenant at

Yuma, Arizona Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 95,548 at the 2020 census, up from the 2010 census population of 93,064. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, Metropolitan ...

in 1943. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Rogers served as a

P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by th ...

pilot with the 353rd Fighter Squadron at

Hamilton Field, California Hamilton Field (Hamilton AFB) was a United States Air Force base, which was inactivated in 1973, decommissioned in 1974, and put into a caretaker status with the Air Force Reserve until 1976. It was transferred to the United States Army in 1983 ...

He moved with the squadron to the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater (warfare), theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It command ...

, flew

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

aircraft and became squadron commander. He is a fighter ace, credited with 12 enemy aircraft while flying from bases in England, Italy and France. He returned to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in January 1945 and was assigned to flying duties in fighter aircraft until November 1945 when he became commandant of troops at

Hunter Field Hunter Army Airfield , located in Savannah, Georgia, United States, is a military airfield and subordinate installation to Fort Stewart located in Hinesville, Georgia. Hunter features a runway that is long and an Airport ramp, aircraft par ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Between September 1946 and June 1947, he served as flight commander, operations officer, and commander of the

77th Fighter Squadron The 77th Fighter Squadron is part of the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It operates the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions. The squadron is one of the oldest in the U ...

, 20th Fighter Group, at

Shaw Air Force Base Shaw Air Force Base (Shaw AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately west-northwest of downtown Sumter, South Carolina. It is one of the largest military bases operated by the United States, and is under the jurisdict ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. He next was a student at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

under the

Air Force Institute of Technology The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is a postgraduate institution and provider of professional and continuing education for the United States Armed Forces and is part of the United States Air Force. It is in Ohio at Wright-Patterson ...

program from July 1947 to August 1949. In August 1949 Rogers was transferred to Headquarters

as an intelligence staff officer in the Directorate of Intelligence. He attended the language course at Lacaze Academy in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, from October 1952 to June 1953, in preparation for attaché duties. He received a bachelor of science degree in military science from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in 1952. Rogers served as assistant air attach in

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

from June 1953 to February 1957. He then returned to Headquarters

as chief of the Current Intelligence Branch in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations. In 1958 he was transferred to the Organization of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...

as director of current intelligence, J-2, and in August 1960 entered the

. In July 1961 he was assigned to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense with duty station at the State Department.

Later career

Rogers served as secretary of the Air Force Council in the Office of the Vice Chief of Staff from May 1962 until February 1963, and then as director of the secretariat, Air Force Council Designated Systems Management Group, Air Staff Board. He was assigned to Air Force Systems Command as assistant deputy chief of staff, development plans in September 1966, and became deputy chief of staff, development plans in August 1968. Rogers served as senior member, United Nations Command, Military Armistice Commission, Korea, from July 1970 to August 1971. He assumed the position of deputy chief of staff for technical training at

Air Training Command The Air Training Command (ATC) is a former United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command designation. It was headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, but was initially formed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. It was re-designated ...

Headquarters in August 1971. He became vice commander of Air Training Command in November 1972. In November 1973 Rogers was appointed commander of the Air University at

Maxwell Air Force Base Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. In this position, he directed the professional military education programs for both officers and noncommissioned officers to meet the requirements of the Air Force. He became commander of the

in August 1975. Rogers was promoted to the grade of general effective September 1, 1975. He retired on January 31, 1978. After retirement, he helped to co-found MGM Grand Air with another

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

businessman. In retirement, Rogers resided in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

until his death from complications of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

in 2014 and is buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

.Felix Michael Rogers - General, United States Air Force
/ref>

Awards

Awards earned during his career:

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, F. Michael 1921 births 2014 deaths United States Air Force generals American World War II flying aces United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Air Medal Order of National Security Merit members University of Virginia alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni National War College alumni Military personnel from Newton, Massachusetts Military personnel from Somerville, Massachusetts Newton North High School alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery