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Colonel Joseph W. Rogers, USAF set a new official world absolute speed record at Edwards AFB in 1959 when he piloted a Convair F-106A Delta Dart to a speed of 1,525 mph. After 45 years, this was still the record for single engine airplanes.
Flying over Korea and Viet Nam, Rogers flew 300 combat missions in P-51 Mustangs, P-80 Shooting Stars and F-4 Phantoms. He attended the USAF Experimental Test Pilot School in 1956 and the Air War College in 1964.
He flew early development test flights of the F-86D Sabre and performed early testing on the F-102/F-106 weapons systems before joining the SR-71/YF-12 Test Force, where he flew the first Blackbird mission of the USAF/NASA YF-12/SR-71 USAF research program. He eventually became Test Director of the world’s highest and fastest airplane, the SR-71 at Edwards Air Force Base. In 1971, Rogers was already evaluating advanced fighter design concepts that wouldn’t appear until the 1990s.
Colonel Rogers was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit and the Air Medal with 16 Oak Leaf Clusters. A Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Rogers received the Thompson Trophy and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale De La Vaulx medal. During his career as a test pilot, Rogers logged 13,000 hours in more than 50 aircraft, including the F-86D, F-102, F-104, F-106, YF-12, SR-71 and F-4.
Established in 1990 by the Lancaster City Council, the Aerospace Walk of Honor celebrates test pilots who were associated with Edwards Air Force Base. Recognition is awarded for distinguished aviation careers marked by significant and obvious achievements beyond one specific accomplishment.
On November 8, 1950, the then Capt. Rogers achieved a rare MiG-15 jet kill while flying in his piston-engine F-51D Mustang named Buckeye Blitz VI. "This was unusual because of the speed differences between the two planes, " said Jim Cook, master crew chief at the Pacific Coast Air Museum in Santa Rosa and an old friend of Col. Rogers. "He was doing around 350 mph, and the jet was doing 450. There were four MiGs, and they were so much faster. They came over the top of Joe, and he took a lucky shot at them."
Vietnam War/Cease-Fire Campaign (1972-73)
From Month/Year
March / 1972
To Month/Year
January / 1973
Description
0n March 30, 1972, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong opened a 3-pronged offensive, with the intention of defeating the Republic of Vietnam and reuniting Vietnam under a Communist regime, in a conventional attack supported with artillery and tarnks, the North Vietnamese crossed the DMZ into Quang Tri Province, occupying Quang Tri, the provincial capital, on May 1 and attacking Hue. In a second thrust, the Communists invaded the Central Highlands from Laos, isolating Kontum and cutting the highway between Pleiku and Qui Nhon. On April 5 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces crossed the border from Cambodia in the third phase of the offensive, capturing Loc Ninh on April 6 and besieging An Loc. By May 8, however, the enemy offensive had stalled; on June 10 the Communists withdrew from Kontum and on the 26th from An Loc. Two days later the Nonh Vietnamese retreated from Quang Tri, and on June 30 the South Vietnamese reopened the road to Pleiku.
U.S. air power contributed significantly to the battle. Although the USAF had reduced its forces in Southeast Asia to half of those present in mid-1968, it moved quickly to augment them. U.S. Navy. Marine. and Army aviation elements joined the USAF to provide airlift. interdiction. tactical reconnaissance, and close air support for the South Vietnamese. A week after the Communist offensive began. on April 6. the United States resumed systematic, sustained bombing of military and industrial targets in North Vietnam as far north as the 20th parallel. The next day Gen. John W. Vogt. Jr., USAF, became the Seventh Air Force Commander. On May 4 South Vietnamese and U.S. leaders suspended peace negotiations in Paris, and 4 days later, the United States imposed a naval blockade of North Vietnam, mining harbors at Haiphong, Vinh, and elsewhere along the coast. The United States also initiated LINEBACKER on May 8 - 1 of the largest air campaigns of the war. Targets included the rebuilt Paul Dourner Bridge in Hanoi, the Thanh Hoa Bridge, rail lines, a petroleum pipeline from China to Hanoi. power plants. marshaling yards, and other strategic and tactical objectives throughout North Vietnam. During Linebacker, on June 28. Gen. Frederick C. Weyand. USA, became the Commander of MACV.
Peace negotiations, suspended for two weeks, resurned in Paris on July 13, Anticipating a successful conclusion to the renewed peace talks. the United States halted the bombing of North Vietnsn above the 20th parallel as of October 23. But when negotiations stalled, the United States conducted an intensive aerial offensive, LINEBACKER ll, from December 18 to 30, against North Vietnam. B-52s and USAF and Navy tactical aircraft bombed Hanoi and Haiphong and their environs around the clock, concentrating on such targets as railyards, power plants, communication facilities, air defense radars, SAM and antiaircraft gun sites, petroleum tank farms, shipping facilities, ammunition dumps, and
MiG bases. On December 30, after peace talks resumed, the United States again ceased bombing north of the 20th parallel.
On January 23, 1973, North Vietnam and the United States agreed to a cease-fire, effective within 5 days. Part of the agreement called for the
North Vietnamese to release prisoners of war while the United States withdrew completely from South Vietnam. From February 12 to March 29, following the Vietnam Ceasefire, North Vietnam released 565 American POWs. ln OPERATION HOMECOMING, the 9th Aeromedical
Evacuation Group flew the POWs from Hanoi to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.
After the Vietnam Ceasefire Campaign, the Royal Laotian government signed a cease-fire agreement with the Pathet Lao on February 21, 1973.
USAF B-52s. nevertheless, flew missions against Communist forces in Cambodia until August 15, 1973, when the U.S. Congress mandated an
end to U.S. bombing in Southeast Asia.
The fighting had ended for American forces, but the Communists, resupplied and reequipped, soon escalated the ground war throughout
Southeast Asia. Within 2 years, on April 17. 1975. the Khmer Rougeoccupied all of Cambodia. On April 30 North Vietnam conquered South
Vietnam and unified the country. And on December 3, 1975, the Pathet Lao seized power in Laos, marking an end to an era of U.S. influence
in Southeast Asia.