This was followed by duty as executive and senior aide to the chief of staff from 1958 to 1959 and promotion to permanent major January 1959 and temporary colonel in September 1959.

Rogers' next duty was as military assistant and executive officer to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell Taylor, from 1962 to 1966.

[1] Rogers was promoted to permanent lieutenant colonel in January 1964 and temporary brigadier general in October 1966, moving on to become the assistant commander of the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967.

After returning from Vietnam, Rogers served two years as Commandant of the Corps of Cadets at West Point from 1967 to 1969, being promoted to permanent colonel in June 1968.

The division also experienced a high turnover rate as soldiers rotating back from their tours of duty in Vietnam served out the remainder of their enlistments.

[6]: 102  Later, councils for junior officers and racial minorities to express their concerns were introduced, and a Greenwich Village-style free speech coffeehouse, complete with folk singers, was set up.

Old-line officers were aghast, and two decorated brigade commanders were relieved by Rogers from their duties,[citation needed] but his new strategy worked as morale improved, racial tensions de-escalated and re-enlistments rose.

Specialist 5 William J. Rosendahl told The New York Times that he, "had just about given up any hope of working for change within the system when Bobby [Senator Robert F. Kennedy] was shot.

Following this assignment Rogers was selected to be Chief of Staff of the United States Army, a post he held from 1 October 1976 until 21 June 1979, the last World War II veteran to do so.

Rogers continued the reforms he began as a division commander as Chief of Staff, improving training programs and developing plans for a modern "quick-strike" force.

[citation needed] Rogers was responsible for starting the army's renaissance after falling into a state of low morale and readiness following the Vietnam War.

[1] In his role as SACEUR, Rogers would have been in command of all NATO forces in the event of an attack by the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact on Western Europe.

[citation needed] Despite his charmed career, Rogers was eager to leave the bureaucratic labyrinth of the Pentagon behind when he assumed his NATO post in Belgium.

... Well, for me, happiness is the Pentagon in the rearview mirror.When the Reagan administration signed a treaty with the Soviet Union requiring each side to withdraw intermediate-range missiles from Europe, Rogers called the agreement "foolish."

He said the Warsaw Pact's superiority in foot soldiers and conventional weapons left NATO forces at risk of being quickly overrun.

He served on the boards of the USO and the Association of the United States Army and was a consultant and director to several companies, including Coca-Cola and General Dynamics.