GENERAL BERNARD W. ROGERS - AUTOGRAPHED INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH 01/04/1968 - HFSID 171672

GENERAL BERNARD ROGERS
B/w Signal Corps bust photo of General Bernard Rogers in uniform, signed and dated in 1968 as Commandant of West Point
Inscribed photograph signed "To Mr. Thomas J Alford Sr,/with the best/wishes of/Bernard Rogers/BG US Army/Commandant, USMA/4 Jan 1968". Typed notations on verso. B/w, 8x10 overall, 7½x9½ image, one surface, printed on cardstock. Photo by "Mr. Palazzo" and the Signal Corps Photo Lab, with photo credit on verso. With a sympathy for the common soldier that was tempered by a hardnosed strategist's sense, American general Rogers (1921-2008) gained a reputation as one of the brightest thinkers in the U. S. Army during his 44 years in uniform. A West Point instructor, Rhodes scholar and Korean and Vietnam War veteran who won the Distinguished Service Cross after rallying troops in the field during a successful counterattack against a Vietcong raid, Rogers was Chief of Staff of the Army (1976-1979) and later Supreme Allied Commander of NATO (1979-1987), a position that he held for an unprecedented 8 years. He began instituting major reforms in the Army in 1969, when he was commanding officer of the 5th Infantry Regiment at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado. These reforms made the Army friendlier to minorities and women and Army life more enjoyable overall and, incidentally, increased enlistments. Rogers also tried to make the Army a deadlier and more effective force by emphasizing quick and devastating strikes over drawn-out military campaigns - a doctrine that has dominated military strategy since, though with mixed results. During his time with NATO, he developed a policy of "Flexible Response", increasing its conventional forces while decreasing its dependence on nuclear weapons, while repeatedly warning the free world not to drop its guard against the Soviet Union. Lightly toned, silvered, bowed and rippled. Light chipping at top and left edges. Otherwise in fine condition.