User:David N Rogers/sandbox

David N Rogers/sandbox

Air Vice Marshal Dave Rogers AM is a retired senior officer of the RAAF

Dave Rogers comes from Bexley in Sydney where he grew up under the flightpath of Runway 07 at Sydney airport. He was educated at Sydney Technical High School (1956-60) where he joined No 2 Flight of the Air Training Corps in 1957. He spent five years in the ATC leaving the day before he joined the RAAF. As a Cadet Under Officer, he won a flying scholarship and attained his Private Pilot Licence at the age of 16. He joined the Air Force as a cadet aircrew in 1962 and following graduation was posted to Williamtown on Sabre fighters. He subsequently served in Butterworth, Singapore and Borneo, flying Sabres on operational missions during Confrontation with Indonesia. He also served in Ubon, Thailand as part of Australia`s contribution to SEATO following the Laotian crisis. He completed a flying instructor`s course in 1966 and served at No 1 AFTS at Pearce as an instructor on Vampires until being selected for the initial F-111 crews in 1968. After F-111 training with the USAF at Cannon AFB, New Mexico and Nellis AFB, Las Vegas in 68, he returned to Australia to wait the decision on the F-111 during which time he flew Sabres and Canberras at Amberley. In 1970, he returned to the USA for conversion to the F-4E Phantom. He flew the delivery flight of the Phantoms from St Louis to Amberley, these aircraft being leased by the RAAF until the F-111 arrived. AVM Rogers flew the last Phantom flight in the RAAF as CO of N0 1 SQN in 1973. After a tour as the Project Manager of the CT-4A Airtrainer in Canberra, he completed Staff College and remained on the staff until returning to Amberley in 1977 for F-111 reconversion. He then completed a tour as CO of 6SQN on the F-111 and the newly-modified RF-111 reconnaissance version. In October 1978, following a mechanical failure, as a result of which his aircraft caught fire, he and his navigator were forced to eject from the F-111 near Auckland NZ. They landed in the Hauraki Gulf and were rescued by the RNZAF. From 1980-82 he then served at HQOC as the F-111 Strike Operations staff officer, then in late 82, completed Joint Services Staff College, his course being the first Australian military group to visit Beijing and Shanghai in China. He was then posted as CO of the Base Squadron at Richmond, then the biggest unit in the Air Force. For his efforts at Richmond, he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queens Birthday List in 1986. In late 85, he returned to the USA as the F/A-18 Project Manager in Washington overseeing some 160 RAAF staff and the contracts with the US Government and major corporations all over the States and in Canada. He returned to Canberra in 1988 and the Air Staff for three years, initially as the Director of Plans then following promotion to Air Commodore, as the Director-General of Airpower, Policy and Plans. In early 1991, he was appointed by the CAS to head a select group to develop a plan for the future of the RAAF. The outcome of his team`s work, Air Force 2000, was subsequently implemented over the next four years. He finally returned to Amberley in late-1991 as the Commander of the Strike Reconnaissance Group and senior RAAF Officer in Queensland. In 1994 he was promoted to Air Vice Marshal and appointed Deputy Chief of the Air Staff where he served until 1997 when he was appointed as Assistant Chief of the Defence Force for Development (later known as Head of Capability) until he retired in July 1998. He now lives in Canberra, where he enjoys his hobby of restoring old cars. He is the Historic Registrar of the Council of ACT Motor Clubs and Vice President of the ACT Triumph Car Club. Since the mid-90s, he has been Patron of the No 30 Squadron Beaufighter Association and also the Pathfinders Association of Queensland. His wife Jenny manages a large dental practice in Canberra and their daughter Natasha is a paediatric occupational therapist in a large Sydney health centre while their son Joshua, is a senior manager with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong. His awards and medals include, Member of the Order of Australia, Australian Active Service Medal 45-75 with SE Asia, Malay Peninsula and Thailand clasps: British General Service Medal (62) with Malaysia and Borneo clasps: Vietnam Logistics and Support Medal: Australian Service Medal 45-75 with Ubon clasp: the Defence Force Service Medal with four clasps, the National Medal, the Australian Defence Medal and the PJM (Malaysia).