William C. Rogers III

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William C. Rogers III
(b. December 1938)

CAPT Will C. Rogers III speaking at the end of Vincennes' 1988 deployment.
Nickname Will
Place of birth Fort Worth, Texas
Allegiance United States Navy
Years of service 1965-1991
Rank Captain
Commands held USS Cushing (DD-985)
USS Vincennes (CG-49)
Navy Tactical Training Group Point Loma
Battles/wars Operation Earnest Will
Awards Legion of Merit
Meritorious Service Medal
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Navy Commendation Medal
Combat Action Ribbon
Navy Expeditionary Medal
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
This page relates to the naval officer. For other men named William Rogers see William Rogers (disambiguation).

Captain William C. Rogers III, commonly known as Will C. Rogers III,[1] (b. December 1938 Fort Worth, Texas)[2] was an officer in the United States Navy and is most notable as the captain of USS Vincennes (CG-49), a Ticonderoga class cruiser with the Aegis Combat System. While under his command the ship was responsible for shooting down Iran Air Flight 655 in the Persian Gulf, resulting in 290 civilian fatalities and creating an international incident for the United States.

Contents

[edit] Early life and career prior to 1988

Rogers was born in Fort Worth, Texas,[3] and grew up in San Antonio, Texas. His father, Will C. Rogers II, was a United States Navy psychologist during World War II. He has a younger brother named Dick, who was paralyzed in an automobile accident leaving him in a wheelchair.[1] 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.[4]

Commander Will C. Rogers, 1981.
Commander Will C. Rogers, 1981.

Rogers was commissioned December 1965 and his first tour of duty was in the engineering department aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Independence (CV-62). His next duty station was USS George K. MacKenzie, a Gearing class destroyer, stationed at Long Beach then later at Yokosuka, Japan. In December 1969, Rogers reported to USS Vreeland, a Knox class frigate to be the commissioning operations officer homeported in Charleston, South Carolina. Rogers first command was USS Exploit, an Aggressive class minesweeper also homeported in Charleston. After attending Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia Rogers worked with three Admirals in Washington D.C. and was assigned to the Weapon Systems Evaluation Group under the Secretary of Defense. This duty involved a series of trips to Israel in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In 1978, Rogers reported to the USS David R. Ray a Spruance class destroyer to be the commissioning executive officer, second in command.[1] He would later command USS Cushing, another Spruance class destroyer, from September 1981 to August 1984. Prior to his command of Vincennes he served in the Pentagon as the head of a section in the Planning Division of Chief of Naval Operations.[3]

Captain Rogers married Sharon (Loomis) Rogers, in Fort Worth, Texas on July 12, 1964.[1] They had one son born February 1969 named Will C. Rogers IV but known as Bill.[5]

[edit] Commanding the USS Vincennes

Large screen displays on USS Vincennes, circa 1988.
Large screen displays on USS Vincennes, circa 1988.

Rogers was the second commanding officer of Vincennes and assumed command April 11, 1987. At the time, Vincennes was one of only five cruisers commissioned that carried the new Aegis combat system, a billion dollar computerized integrated battle management system and the first such cruiser to join the Pacific fleet. The heart of Aegis is an advanced, automatic detect-and-track, multi-function three-dimensional phased array radar, the AN/SPY-1. Known as "the Shield of the Fleet", the high-powered radar is able to perform search, tracking, and missile guidance functions simultaneously with a track capacity of over 100 targets at more than 100 nautical miles (200 km).[6] Command of an Aegis cruiser was considered to be very prestigious at the time.[2] On April 25, 1988, Vincennes was deployed on a six month cruise in support of Operation Earnest Will, the reflagging and escort of oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.[7]

A missile departs the forward launcher of Vincennes during a 1987 exercise. The crew of the ship used the forward launcher to down Iran Air 655.
A missile departs the forward launcher of Vincennes during a 1987 exercise. The crew of the ship used the forward launcher to down Iran Air 655.[8]

[edit] Iran Air 655

On July 3, 1988, Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 with a dual-salvo of SM-2MR missiles. Iran Air 655, carrying 290 passengers, had been airborne for seven minutes, when the missiles impacted approximately 8 miles (13 km) from Vincennes; the plane crashed into the Persian Gulf 6.5 miles (10.5 km) east of Hengham Island (26°37.75′N, 56°1′E). At the time of the incident, Vincennes was inside Iranian territorial waters and engaged in small arms combat with several Iranian surface craft, and their helicopter had been fired upon during flight operations.[8]

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,[8] noted that Captain Rogers received faulty information which he used to make the decision to fire. Specifically, he was told the aircraft was identified as an F-14 descending on an attack profile and that it was identifying itself with secondary surveillance radar / IFF mode-II codes exclusively used by military aircraft. The investigation noted that Captain Rogers was focused on the ongoing surface engagement and was only aware of the inbound aircraft for less than four minutes. It also pointed out that Rogers felt he had increased burden to act since he was also tasked with protecting USS Elmer Montgomery. The investigation also concluded that he acted in a prudent manner based on the information available to him and the short time frame involved and that he acted within the rules of engagement.[8]

USS Vincennes (CG-49) returns to San Diego, October 1988.
USS Vincennes (CG-49) returns to San Diego, October 1988.

Independent investigations into the events have presented a different picture. John Barry and Roger Charles, of Newsweek, claimed Rogers was overeager for combat, starting the fight with Iranian gunboats and following them into Iranian territorial waters. They also accused the U.S. government of a cover-up.[2] Other sources lay some of the blame on technology and the expense of the ship. 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.[9] 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."[10]

Rogers speaking at Vincennes welcome home ceremony.
Rogers speaking at Vincennes welcome home ceremony.

Rogers was personally criticized for being over aggressive by Commander David Carlson, the commanding officer of USS Sides a second ship that was under the tactical control of Rogers at the time of the incident. Carlson claimed that the downing of Iran Air 655 marked the "horrifying climax to Captain Rogers' aggressiveness, first seen four weeks ago." He was referring to incidents on the June 2, 1988 when he claimed that Rogers' brought Vincennes too close to an Iranian frigate searching a bulk carrier, that he launched his helicopter too close to Iranian small boats, and that Rogers fired on a number of small Iranian military boats instead of directing another ship to do so. Carlson disagreed with Rogers' decision citing the high cost of the cruiser relative to the frigates attached to the group, "Why do you want an Aegis cruiser out there shooting up boats? It wasn't a smart thing to do."[11]

Vincennes, with Rogers remaining in command, completed the remainder of the scheduled deployment returning to Naval Station San Diego on October 25, 1988. During the trip home on September 22, 1988, Vincennes rescued 26 Vietnamese boat people adrift in the South China Sea.[12] Rogers remained in command of Vincennes until May 27, 1989.[13] In 1990, George H. W. Bush awarded Rogers the Legion of Merit "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.[14]

[edit] Bombing of Rogers' family minivan

The Rogers family 1984 Toyota minivan in flames following the explosion of a pipe bomb while Sharon Rogers was driving to her job as an elementary school teacher.
The Rogers family 1984 Toyota minivan in flames following the explosion of a pipe bomb while Sharon Rogers was driving to her job as an elementary school teacher.

Nine months after the downing of Iran Air Flight 655, on March 10, 1989, Rogers' wife Sharon escaped with her life when a pipe bomb attached to her minivan exploded, while she was driving.[5] The van was in Will Rogers' name and many immediately suspected that terrorism was involved. Five months later, the Associated Press reported that the most likely suspect had a personal vendetta against Rogers and that the FBI denied terrorist activity.[15] As of 2007, 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.[16] On February 17, 1993, the case was featured on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries, but no additional information was uncovered.

[edit] Naval career following Vincennes

Rogers' next assignment was as commanding officer of the United States Navy Tactical Training Group at Point Loma, a group responsible for training officers in handling combat situations.[14] He retired from the United States Navy in August 1991.[2] In 1992, Rogers and his wife Sharon co-authored the book, Storm Center: A Personal Account of Tragedy & Terrorism describing events surrounding the downing of Iran Air 655 and the minivan bombing from their perspectives.[1] As of 2006, the Rogers resided in San Diego.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Rogers, Will C. III; Rogers, Sharon; Gregston, Gene (June 1992). Storm Center: A Personal Account of Tragedy & Terrorism'. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-727-9. 
  2. ^ a b c d Barry, John; Charles, Roger (July 13, 1992). "Sea of Lies". Newsweek. 
  3. ^ a b "Pentagon Defends Vincennes Commander", Associated Press, July 4, 1988. Retrieved on 2007-01-28. 
  4. ^ Becker, M. (July 18, 1988). "The Navy Was Like a Dream". Newsweek 112 (3): 23. 
  5. ^ a b Reinhold, Robert. "Blast Wrecks Van of Skipper Who Downed Iran Jet", The New York Times, March 11, 1989. Retrieved on 2007-01-28. 
  6. ^ Aegis Combat System. The Warfighter Encyclopedia. Warfighter Response Center (2003-10-08). Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  7. ^ United States Navy. Vincennes IV. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  8. ^ a b c d United States Navy. Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Downing of Iran Air Flight 655 on 3 July 1988 (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  9. ^ GIS Naval Analysis Team (May 5, 2003). "A Look at the Naval Lessons Available to the US from the Iraq War". . International Strategic Studies Association Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  10. ^ Turpin, Marita and du Plooy, Niek (2004). "Decision-making Biases and Information Systems" (PDF). . Centre for Logistics and Decision Support Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  11. ^ Fisk, Robert (October 2005). The Great War for Civilisation - The Conquest of the Middle East. Fourth Estate, 318-328. ISBN 1-84115-007-X. 
  12. ^ Reinhold, Robert. "Crew of Cruiser That Downed Iranian Airliner Gets a Warm Homecoming", The New York Times, October 25, 1988. Retrieved on 2007-01-28. 
  13. ^ "Vincennes gets new commander", St. Petersburg Times, Times Publishing Company, May 28, 1989. Retrieved on 2007-01-28. 
  14. ^ a b Moore, Molly. "2 Vincennes Officers Get Medals", The Washington Post, April 23, 1990. Retrieved on 2007-01-28. 
  15. ^ "Rogers Bombing Not Terrorists?", Associated Press, October 2, 1989. Retrieved on 2007-01-28. 
  16. ^ Jenkins, Logan. "Thoughts about Golden Triangle won't square", San Diego Union-Tribune, August 11, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-01-28. 

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Rogers, William C. III
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rogers, Will C. III
SHORT DESCRIPTION United States Navy Captain
DATE OF BIRTH December 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Fort Worth, Texas
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH