Michael Rogers

Michael Rogers, USN 1983-2005

My name is Michael Rogers. I was born and raised in East Providence Rhode Island, and served in the United States Navy from 1983 until 2005. I was trained as a Naval flight officer flying the P-3 Orion aircraft, which primarily did surface surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, and long flights over the ocean. My longest flight being 13 and a half hours flying off of Oman in the northern Arabian Sea.

I loved being in the Navy. I loved serving with the sailors. I loved operating, I loved traveling, I loved the adventure, I loved the experience and the opportunities that the Navy gave to me. Would I do it all over again? Probably so. I guess one can say I’m a patriotic guy. I loved serving the country, and I loved wearing the uniform. And, of course, there’s all kinds of stories that one can tell about one’s service in the navy, and I’m no exception. There’s certainly more good and fun stories than bad stories, although there were probably a couple bad ones.

I loved being in the aircraft, and doing the mission. Although, I must say, my most fun job in the Navy was serving on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, and that was, that was two years of sheer excitement to include being on the bow of a ship in the middle of the night, when it’s so dark you can’t even see the edge of the ship. So, one needs to be careful where one walks. Primarily, I served in the Pacific, and operated from the Pacific, and all the way into the Indian ocean or the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf.

And, certainly, my service in the Navy has ultimately affected the rest of my life in that, much of my Naval service was either based or home ported from Hawaii. Which, ultimately then, became the place that when I did retire from the Navy, I stayed in Hawaii, and I really built a whole life for myself there. Despite the fact that all my family remains in Rhode Island, which by the way is very rich in Navy history. Hawaii, and Pearl Harbor has its own rich Naval history that I frankly never lose sight of, and as I often drive by Pearl Harbor, it’s never far from my thought. The impact and the history that Pearl Harbor and Hawaii has to the Navy and the nation.

I graduated from the Citadel in 1983. On graduation and commissioning, almost immediately went down to Naval Air Station in Pensacola and started flight school.

My connection to Mount Vernon Missouri, and the veteran- this veteran’s project is I am married to the lovely Maria Carl, resident and her family’s residence, all veterans I will also add. And, that is how, this Rhode Island Yankee in middle America is honored to be part of this project, along with the Carl family. Thank you.