USAFA Class Heritage

Biography

Col. (Ret.) Roger D. Graham

Colonel (Ret.) Roger Graham was born February 11, 1942 in Herndon, West Virginia, and grew up in Athens, West Virginia.  He graduated from Athens High School, where he was an All-State basketball player.  He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1963.  He holds navigator-bombardier and parachutist ratings.  He served as a B-52 combat crewmember at Loring AFB, Maine, and March AFB, California.  During the Vietnam War, he flew 182 combat missions as an A-26 navigator/co-pilot.

In 1972, he graduated from the College of Law, West Virginia University, where he was a member of the National Moot Court Team and an Associate Law Review Editor.  From 1973 to 1977, he served as an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate and Area Defense Counsel at Patrick AFB, Florida.

He received a Master of Laws Degree in Government Contract Law in 1978 from George Washington University.  His thesis on products liability and tort law related to government contracts was published in the Air Force Law Review and the Yearbook of Procurement Articles.  Thereafter, he served as an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate at Headquarters Air Force Systems Command, Andrews AFB, Maryland, and as Legal Counsel to the DOD Federal Acquisition Regulation Project Office.  From 1982 to 1984, he served as the Staff Judge Advocate, Office of Military Cooperation, U.S. Embassy, Cairo, Egypt.  Between 1984 and 1986, he served as the Chief of the General Torts Section, HQ USAF, and between 1986 and 1989, he served as the Chief of the Contract Litigation Branch in the Pentagon.

In 1989, Colonel Graham was assigned to the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Headquarters Air Force Systems Command, where he served as the Director of Acquisition Law.  He retired from active duty in 1992.  From 1992 to 2004, Col. (Ret.) Graham was employed in the legal department of Lockheed Martin Corporation at Marietta, Georgia.  During that time, he served as the Lockheed Martin F-22 Program Attorney, and as the Marietta Site Counsel from 2000 to 2004.

After retiring from the Air Force and Lockheed Martin, he taught American Government classes at Kennesaw State University in Georgia as an Associate Professor. He thoroughly enjoyed the subject matter, and the challenge of teaching college-age students. Many of his lecture hall classes included more than one hundred students.

His military awards and decorations include the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal with nine oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Presidential Unit Citation with one oak leaf cluster, the Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Vietnam Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Medal, the RVN Gallantry Cross with Palm, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. He completed Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College.

He is the author of a book titled The Nimrods, published in 2007, that describes the high-intensity, nighttime dive-bombing missions of the A-26 Nimrods in the Vietnam War.  The book also addresses the lessons learned in the Vietnam War, and advocates that those lessons be applied to terrorism and renewed threats of nuclear war. In addition, he is the editor of a book titled Fly By Knights, published in 2022, that addresses the history of B-26, RB-26, and A-26 Air Commando combat operations in the Vietnam War. Fly By Knights includes stories from 37 individual pilots, navigators, maintenance and armament personnel, and family members, whose courage and patriotism are on full display. 

Col. (Ret.) Graham and his wife, Dianne, have three children: Kimberly, Kristi and Ryan.  Kristi is married to William (Bill) Visage and they have three children: Colette, Averi and Chase.  The Grahams currently reside in the Atlanta area.