William C. Rogers III

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This page relates to the naval officer. For other men named William Rogers see William Rogers (disambiguation).

Captain William C. Rogers III, also known as Will Rogers,[1] of the United States Navy, a native of San Diego County, California, was the captain of USS Vincennes, a guided missile cruiser with the Aegis Combat System. While under his command the ship was responsible for shooting down the Iran Air Flight 655 in the Persian Gulf, resulting in 290 civilian fatalities, creating an international incident for the United States.

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[edit] Early life and Career prior to 1988

Rogers, born in Fort Worth, Texas,[2] and grew up in San Antonio, Texas. His father was a United States Navy psychologist during World War II. Rogers majored in psychology at Baylor University and earned a master's degree in history from Trinity University in San Antonio. He taught High school science for two years before entering Officer Candidate School.[3] He was commissioned December 1965, his first tour of duty was the aircraft carrier, USS Independence (CV-62). Rogers first command was USS Cushing (DD-985) from September 1981 to August 1984. Prior to his command of Vincennes he served the Pentagon as the head of a section in the Planning Division of Chief of Naval Operations.[2] He assumed command of Vincennes April 1987. Captain Rogers is married to Sharon Rogers, also from Fort Worth, Texas, they had one son Will C. Rogers IV who was around 20 years old in 1989.[4]

[edit] Downing of Iran Air Flight 655

Main article: Iran Air Flight 655

On July 3, 1988, Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 with a dual-salvo of SM-2 missiles. Iran Air 655's carrying 290 souls, had been airborne for seven minutes, when the missiles impacted approximately 8 miles from Vincennes and crashing into the Persian Gulf 6.5 miles east of Hengham Island (26°37.75′N 56°1′E).[5]

A subsequent US report by Rear Admiral William Fogarty, entitled Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Downing of Iran Air Flight 655 on 3 July 1988,[5] received with skepticism by some, determined that Captain Rogers acted within the rules of engagement.

In 2004, Marita Turpin and Niek du Plooy of the Centre for Logistics and Decision Support, partially attributed the accident to an expectancy bias introduced by the Aegis Combat System and faulted the design and "unhelpful user interface" as contributing to the errors of judgement."[6]

Independent investigations into the events have presented a different picture. John Barry and Roger Charles, of Newsweek, wrote that Commander Rogers acted recklessly and without due care. Their report further accused the U.S. government of a cover-up.[citation needed] An analysis of the events by the International Strategic Studies Association described the deployment of an Aegis cruiser in the zone as irresponsible and felt that the expense of the ship had played a major part in the setting of a low threshold for opening fire.[7] On November 6, 2003 the International Court of Justice concluded that the U.S. Navy's actions in the Persian Gulf at the time had been unlawful.[citation needed]

Rogers was not relieved of command and completed the remainder of the scheduled deployment returning to San Diego October 25, 1988. During the trip home on September 22, 1988, Vincennes rescued 26 Vietnamese boat people adrift in the South China Sea.[8] Rogers commanded Vincennes until May 28, 1989.[9] In 1990, George H. W. Bush awarded Rogers the Legion of Merit for "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service as commanding officer ... from April 1987 to May 1989." The award was given for his tenure as Commanding officer of Vincennes and made no mention of the downing of Iran Air 655. His next assignment was Commanding officer of the United States Navy Tactical Training Group at Point Loma, a group responsible for training officers in handling combat situations.[10] He retired from the United States Navy in 1991.

[edit] Bombing of Rogers' family minivan

Nine months after the incident, on March 10, 1989, Rogers' wife Sharon escaped with her life when a pipe bomb attached to her minivan exploded, while she was driving.[4] The van was in Commander Rogers' name. While many immediately suspected that 'terrorists' were responsible, Associated Press reported later that the most likely suspect had a personal vendetta against Rogers and the FBI denied terrorist activity.[11] To date, the bombing of Rogers' van remains an unsolved case, despite a major investigation involving at some time up to 300 police men and FBI agents.[12] In the early 90's the case was featured on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries. However, no additional information was uncovered.

Seven years later, in 1996, pipe bombs and similar devices were noted to be a common occurrence in San Diego County and a largely homegrown threat in the United States, according to a San Francisco criminologist.[13]

Captain Rogers published a book in 1992, co-authored by his wife, Sharon, describing his version of the events.[1] In 2006, the Rogers still live in San Diego.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Storm Center: A Personal Account of Tragedy & Terrorism. Sharon Rogers, Will Rogers, Gene Gregston. Naval Institute Press, June 1992. ISBN 1557507279
  2. ^ a b Associated Press. Pentagon Defends Vincennes Commander. July 4, 1988.
  3. ^ Newsweek. The Navy Was Like a Dream. July 18, 1988.
  4. ^ a b New York Times. Blast Wrecks Van of Skipper Who Downed Iran Jet. March 11, 1989.
  5. ^ a b Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Downing of Iran Air Flight 655 on 3 July 1988. (PDF).
  6. ^ Turpin and du Plooy 2004: 785 (PDF)
  7. ^ International Strategic Studies Association. A Look at the Naval Lessons Available to the US from the Iraq War. May 5, 2003.
  8. ^ New York Times. Crew of Cruiser That Downed Iranian Airliner Gets a Warm Homecoming. October 25, 1988.
  9. ^ St. Petersburg Times. Vincennes gets new commander. May 28, 1989.
  10. ^ The Washington Post. 2 Vincennes Officers Get Medals. April 23, 1990.
  11. ^ Associated Press via Milnet archive. Rogers Bombing Not Terrorists?. October 2, 1989.
  12. ^ Logan Jenkins. San Diego Union-Tribune. Thoughts about Golden Triangle won't square. August 11, 2003.
  13. ^ EmergencyNet. Pipe Bombings Explode: Both Real And Imagined. August 2, 1996.

[edit] External links

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