Paul Logasa Bogen

Paul Logasa Bogen (March 15, 1915 – June 4, 1972) was a United States Army soldier.

Early life

Paul Logasa Bogen was born on March 15, 1915, to Dr. Louis Isaac Bogen and Jeanie Deanna Logasa in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was originally expected to be born on St. Patrick's day and was to be named Patrick. When he was born two days early his parents decided to name him Paul instead.

Bogen attended the University of Nebraska from 1933 to 1937, originally majoring in Mechanical Engineering before switching to Speech Communications. He was a member of the Army ROTC program obtaining the rank of Cadet Colonel and being elected President of the University's military honor fraternity. Here he met an Elizabeth Jane Herd who he would marry on May 16, 1942, at Fort Benning, Georgia in the Post Chapel.

Military service

After graduation, Bogen was commissioned as a reserve officer in the Army and assigned the command of a CCC division in Louisiana. After the Nazi invasion of Poland, Bogen requested his reserve commission to be activated. Upon activation, he was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division as an assistant to then Colonel Patton at Fort Benning, Georgia.

He served in World War II in the 6th Armored Division first as a tank commander, then as a scout, and finally as the Assistant G-3, I&E, where he co-authored the official unit history. He saw combat from Normandy, Brittany, North France, the Ardennes, the Rhineland, and across Germany. He was among the first American Army soldiers to meet up with the Russians near the Zschopau River in April 1945.

Graduate education

After World War II, he left active duty and became an Army reserve Lt. Colonel. During this time, he pursued a doctorate in Speech Communications at Ohio State University with research in the nascent fields of educational radio and television. As he neared completion of his degree, the growing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union led to the Army re-activating him.

When he returned from his tour of duty he was disappointed to find that his faculty adviser at Ohio State had published his dissertation as his own work. He decided not to start over so he did not get his doctorate degree.

Korean War

From 1951-1954, during the Korean War, he was an instructor at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In June 1954, he was assigned to Fort Richardson, Alaska as Chief of Staff to the commander of Army forces in Alaska, General James F. Collins. In June 1957, he was assigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky where he was a commanding officer of a battalion. In June 1958, then was awarded a Regular Army Commission and promoted to the rank of Colonel and sent to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to the U.S. Army War College as a student in Strategy and Logistics. Upon graduation he became a professor at the War College. When the Defense Intelligence Agency was established in 1961, Bogen was made the Assistant to the Director. During his time at the DIA, Bogen was assigned to be the chief of security for the visit of Nikita Khrushchev to the United States.

Vietnam War

From 1964 to 1965, Colonel Bogen served under General William Westmoreland as the head of the Army Concept Team in Vietnam and was an outspoken opponent of the Tactical Air Command System Report that favored consolidating all tactical air operations under the US Air Force. During his service in Vietnam, he received the Legion of Merit twice, a Bronze Star, and an Air Medal.

Return to War College

In 1966 after returning from Vietnam, Colonel Bogen was again a faculty member at the U.S. Army War College as the first recipient of the Eisenhower Chair of Strategic Appraisal During this time, he has been recognized as one of the first professional soldiers to advocate the military as nation-builders.

4th Army

In 1969, Colonel Bogen was transferred to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas where he served as the Chief of Staff of the 4th Army. Upon the merging of the 4th and 5th Armies in 1971, he was offered a promotion to Brigadier General as commander of Schofield Barracks in Hawaii after being passed by at least four times for a promotion.

Retirement

Colonel Bogen, however, decided he did not want to relocate again, particularly since his second oldest son had just started college and his youngest was in the middle of high School. Instead, he retired and began to write his memoirs. However, he died of anaphylactic shock from a hornet sting at his home in San Antonio in 1972.