As many of you have heard Marine Veteran and former NYPD Detective Pat Rogers passed away last night from natural causes. His name is well known in Tactical Training circles where he continued to serve for several decades. BCM owner Paul Buffoni shared this touching tribute to his friend Pat.
He will be missed. May he rest in peace.
It is with the heaviest of hearts that I announce the passing of my Brother and my friend Pat Rogers.
Pat embodied the warrior spirit. And like all great warriors he had a big heart and it was full of love. Love for his country, love for his Brothers, and love for his family and friends.
We are definitely diminished and I will miss him greatly.
I will miss his energy. Pat would bring energy to every room he walked in with his magnetic personality. Folks would just gravitate toward him. They would come to hear a colorful story told in a way only Pat could tell, or maybe to hear a lesson from his lifetime of experience in the USMC, NYPD, or any number of his other billets. I have lost track of how many times his enthusiasm and stories would keep everyone in stiches. I have lost track of how many lessons he has taught me.
I will miss his passion. “Life is good.” Countless times he would say that to me. Whether we were at the range together in one of his classes, or on the phone when he was talking about some place Ellen and him visited together, or giving me an AAR of the last class he just finished teaching… he would close with “Life is good”. And he meant it. He made you feel better about your day just from hearing how much he enjoyed his. Pat loved life, every day of it.
I will miss his friendship. Good times or bad times Pat would always be the one to reach out to you. Whether it was to celebrate with you or lend a helping hand, he would be there. If a man is known by the company he keeps it becomes easy to see why so many loved Pat. I have been so very fortunate to meet many of Pat’s good friends and honored to call them mine as well. You would be hard pressed to find a group of higher quality individuals with the same sense of integrity, loyalty, and love that Pat displayed. A testament to our friend Pat. It has been said that- Friends are the siblings God never gave us.
I will miss my Brother.
We were recently working on a project together and I needed an expanded bio. I am going to include it here.
Semper Fidelis my Brother,
Paul Buffoni
Bravo Company
About Pat Rogers
Pat was born in Brooklyn NY in 1946.
He has worked shining shoes; delivering newspapers; pumping gas; working on a ride in Coney Island; driving a taxi; a sport parachute instructor, a photographer, and for an airline company that serviced the Far East.
He served in the active and reserve components as a United States Marine starting in 1963.
He served in the former Republic of Vietnam with 3rd Marine Division.
He was an 1811 Tank Crewman; 0311 Rifleman; 0369 Infantry Unit Leader; 8531 Primary Marksmanship Instructor; 8662 Parachutist; 5702 NBC Specialist; 5702 NBC Officer.
He served for 5 years in the Foreign Material Acquisition Exploitation Unit, and finished as Chief Warrant Officer 2.
He was a NYC Correction Officer; a NYC Police Officer, serving in Patrol; Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit; Anti-Crime; investigator in Manhattan Robbery Squad, Central Robbery Division.
As a Sgt he served in Patrol; Anti-Crime; in the Chief of Detectives Office; as a supervisor in the Technical Assistance Response Unit, and as a Hostage Negotiator.
He was decorated 54 times, to include the Medal of Valor.
He worked as an IC with the Counter Terrorism Center of OGA.
He was an SME evaluating the DOS Anti-Terrorist Assistance Program.
He was a Rangemaster at Gunsite for 12 years.
He been the principal at EAG since 1989.
He was the 464th person in the US to accrue 1000 Free Fall Parachute Jumps (USPA Gold Wings #464), the 203rd to accrue over 2000 Free Fall Parachute Jumps (USPA Diamond Wings #203) and the 131st person in the US to accrue over 12 hours in freefall (USPA Gold Free Fall Badge # 131)
He is an NRA High Master Rifle, and CMP Distinguished Rifleman.
He learns something new every day.
Tags: BCM, Pat Rogers
RIP Sir, thank you for your service, and countless contributions to the shooting community.
A better friend no man while ever have.
Your contributions will go on forever.
RIP Pat
You will be missed Pat.
We are diminished.
Rest well, brother.
RIP, Pat. Thanks for everything you did for me personally, us as a community, and for the country. Rest assured, we will continue to pass along the knowledge you gave us. Save seats for us all. We’ll get there eventually.
Had the privilege to train with Pat in 2009. Great training, great instructor.
Semper Fi Pat!
Thanks for sharing this Paul. I will miss Pat in a big way along with so many.
RIP Pat.
With your passing, we truly are diminished.
Awesome dude. Told me that Vagisil would lubricate my rifle during carbine class. One of a kind.
Fair Winds and Semper Fidelis, Patrick…
I will miss his sense of humor, knowledge and how eager he was always to help people learn in his classes.
I’ve trained with Pat multiple times and always had a blast!
He was one of a kind.
Deepest condolences to Ellen.
Fair Winds Brother Pat.
“Sigh . . . We are diminished.”
Paul: We met at Pat’s wedding. Pat spoke of you often and fondly. You were held in high regard by him and Ellen. He was one of the best I ever had the privilege to share a range with.
Thank you for a grand tribute to a grand man.
With Respect,
Sheriff Ken Campbell (Ret.)
Chief Operating Officer
Gunsite Academy
Unfortunate to hear. God speed to Pat. A true patriot.
I took a 3 day carbine class with Pat in 2005. I messed up my knees on TD2 and couldn’t make it back for TD3. Pat was kind enough to allow me to finish TD3 later that month with another class.
He was a class act all the way. He will be greatly missed.
Condolences to Ellen.
Until Valhalla, Brother Pat.
We will see you on the other side.
Prayers for comfort to Ellen.
We are diminished….
We are diminished. RIP Warrior, Brother.
Thank you for your service, mentoring, and teaching. You always had a smile on your face and lived life to the fullest. You will be missed, yet never forgotten. Remembered in all the stories and lessons you brought to us all.
Fair winds and calm seas, Marine. See you in Valhalla, Sir.
I always enjoyed Pat’s writing in SWAT magazine
Also wanted to say thanks to SSD for posting this. Long day and did not mean to forget this earlier today.
Agreed, sir.
Fair winds and following seas, rest in peace Marine, till Valhalla
Thank you Mr. Paul Buffoni for a brief look into the man Pat, never had the privilege to meet the man so I appreciate you telling all of us about him, even if it’s just a glimpse of what I am sure was an exciting and full life.
R.I.P Mr. Pat Rogers
RIP, Sir. Thank you for a lifetime of service and dedication to our country and this community. The world is a lesser place without you, but I know you and your legacy will live on. Semper Fi.
How much he taught us over the decades. Imagine how much we never had the time to get out of him? How much was lost in his passing. Now you know why he spent so much time on LF sharing his stories and experiences, and history. I will miss those USMC and NYPD oral histories and photos. Without him passing them on most would be lost to history. In his words, we are diminished. I won’t however miss naked photos of him skiing or parachuting. I hope that someone , be it his wife or a friend will be able to continue to post his visual history through the thousands of pics he took over the years.
Thanks for sharing. What an exciting life he lived. He will be missed.
Thank you Paul for this overview of Pat’s many accomplishments. I had the opportunity to train under him several years ago and it was and is something that I will never forget. Truly an epic man of character, honesty and dignity. Oh yes, we are diminished in every sense of the word.
Saddened and diminished by the news. I never met him or took an EAG class, but I learned a great deal from his writings and videos. He was a role model and a big influence on me.
Condolences to his family and friends. May he rest in Peace.
Semper Fi, Rest in Peace.
Carry your f$&@ing gun, all the f$&@ing time! ~Pat Rodgers
Did not expect to hear this. Sadly I never had the chance to take his courses but he was a great wealth of knowledge and experience on the LF forums. I enjoyed reading his class AARs, and he definitely embodied the warrior spirit that America is seemingly lacking every passing day. Semper Fidelis and RIP, sir
RIP MARINE SEMPER FI!
R.I.P. Sir. We are diminished.
I’m a nobody. Never been anywhere or done anything. Never got to meet Mr . Rogers (he would say Mr. Rogers was his father, and to call him Pat). But I kinda felt like I knew him from his LF posts. I am grateful such a man lived and was willing to share his experiences, knowledge and skills with the rest of us. RIP Pat. “We are diminished.”
I went through my first formal Carbine course with him at Gunsite in 1996. Spoke to him recently. So many others, worked as an apprentice under him. I’ll miss him, just stunning he’s gone. The “Ole breed” is leaving too fast. Say hello to Louis & Bill for me Pat, makes my heart ache & eyes water, Semper Fi!
Roll Call has a new member in the army of St. Michael. RIP Mr. Pat Rodgers.
We are diminished
Your brothers in blue and green are lessened by you passing. We need you for the fight ahead.
Your contributions to the art of gunfuckingfighting have saved many of your brothers. Sorry I missed that class. There was a legit riot and I totaled my g-ride on TD0. They wouldn’t let me go after the hospital cleared me.
You will be sorely missed. The Republic needs more men of your caliber for the trying days ahead.
Met him via facebook after reading an excellently worded post about the current state of police work and the negative public perception being fed to the masses. It was 100% correct and really motivational. Didn’t know him personally, but he is a man we can all admire.
He had a very broad, and a bit strange life.
RIP
RIP
Been lucky enough to read his tales, knowledges and memories.
Also to allowed me to ask him advice or one of his good words.
We are diminished.
He got a amazing life and show the way.
I have a though and prayers for his wife, families and friends.
I missed him.
Adieu l’artiste!
Rest in peace.
Never had a chance to take a class! Do know his roots! RIP & Semper Fi
I literally just woke up to this news. Dumbfounded. Rest in peace, Pat.
Sad to wake up and see this. He was a big part of our community
I can’t really say that I’m diminished, for this man went out of his way to help his man become proficient in the skill of not just protecting himself but his fellow man.
Saddened? Yes. Diminshed? **** no, and he made sure of that!
Will I forget the man’s message? Never.
to PAT! Here Here!
pillar of this community, he will be missed!!
The man was responsible for me taking soldiering seriously, and to seek out further training. He always paid it forward to those in the tribe – he gave me a call and introduced me to Denny Hansen after I sent Pat an article I was writing. He lived to enhance the lethality of LE, Military, Trainers, and regular earth people. The amount of sacrifices he made to impart his wisdom to us were substantial. I will miss his teaching, his mentorship, and his writings.
He taught me work ethic. While others were drinking beers and smoking cigars after a training day – Pat was soaking in a hotel tub to rejuvenate and be ready to do it all over again the next day, typing up AAR notes to pass along the knowledge well into the night.
He lived doing not only what he loved – but what he was made for. War, and making people better at it.
We are diminished…but he will live on in all those he mentored, taught, and reached out to. For someone that has no biological children, he has an inordinate amount of sons and daughters over this great expanse of earth.
A special thanks to all his fellow trainers who looked out for his health during classes. He was an ornery bastard about it sometimes – but he knew you were doing right by him.
Patty was one of my Sgts in TARU, always a true gentleman. Good boss, do your work like you were suppose too you would never had a problem, but you were accountable for you actions. R I P
Rest in Peace kind Sir.