Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, Joint Base San Antonio commander, addresses the crowd at the JBSA Airman Leadership School naming ceremony at JBSA-Lackland, Texas, May 11, 2018. The school was named in honor of Staff Sgt. Cierra Rogers, an alumnus, who died May 20, 2016, from injuries sustained after saving a family from a burning building April 29, 2016. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. R.J. Biermann)ALS honors alumnus during naming
                        
                        
                        Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, Joint Base San Antonio commander, addresses the crowd at the JBSA Airman Leadership School naming ceremony at JBSA-Lackland, Texas, May 11, 2018. The school was named in honor of Staff Sgt. Cierra Rogers, an alumnus, who died May 20, 2016, from injuries sustained after saving a family from a burning building April 29, 2016. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. R.J. Biermann)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        Airmen perform memorial pushups during the Joint Base San Antonio Airman Leadership School naming ceremony at JBSA-Lackland, Texas, May 11, 2018. The school was named in honor of Staff Sgt. Cierra Rogers, an alumnus, who died May 20, 2016 from injuries sustained after saving a family from a burning building April 29, 2016. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. R.J. Biermann)ALS honors alumnus during naming
                        
                        
                        Airmen perform memorial pushups during the Joint Base San Antonio Airman Leadership School naming ceremony at JBSA-Lackland, Texas, May 11, 2018. The school was named in honor of Staff Sgt. Cierra Rogers, an alumnus, who died May 20, 2016 from injuries sustained after saving a family from a burning building April 29, 2016. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. R.J. Biermann)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

ALS honors alumnus during naming ceremonyPublished May 15, 2018
                    
                    By Tech. Sgt. R.J. Biermann
                    
                    
                    Air Forces Cyber Public Affairs
            **JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas (AFNS) --**The Joint Base San Antonio Airman Leadership School was named the “JBSA Rogers ALS” in honor of Staff Sgt. Cierra Rogers during a ceremony May 11, 2018.    
Rogers was formerly assigned to the 67th and 688th Cyberspace Wings and graduated from the JBSA ALS. Rogers died May 20, 2016, from injuries sustained after saving a family from a burning building in the Songtan shopping district April 29, 2016, while assigned to Osan Air Base, South Korea. 
“Rogers was a very eager and personable member of my team,” said Jay Simmons, a former supervisor of Rogers’ at the 688th CW. “She wanted to learn all aspects of her assigned duties. We had several great NCOs supervising the Airmen, and they always had positive and professional comments about her.” 
The event surrounding her death was captured on a cellphone, showing several Airmen and local residents using blankets to catch a woman and her three children as they leapt from an apartment building window. 
According to reports, while visiting a local beauty salon, Rogers smelled smoke and turned to see flames. Trapped with a woman and her three children, Rogers kicked out a window to escape, suffering a laceration to her leg. Unfortunately, a safe escape proved impossible as the alley was 37 feet below. 
Rogers discovered another window with an adjacent metal cable that led to the ground. While descending, she lost her grip and fell 15 feet. She then gathered volunteers and blankets and pleaded with the woman to drop her children onto the blankets. Aside from shock, smoke inhalation and minor injuries, the family survived the incident.   
“She did what she thought was the right thing to do,” said Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, JBSA commander, during the ceremony. “She did what each of us would have hoped we would have done. Not only was it the right thing to do, it was the selfless thing to do. Selfless service is one of those core values the Air Force has embodied ... [and] she brought that value with her. It’s fitting this school is named after someone so selfless, so giving of her own talents to someone else.” 
Rogers’ father, Larry Rogers, and mother, Jaqueline Greer, among other family members, were also present at the event.  
“I’d like to thank everyone who made this naming possible. I know there was a lot of hard work involved in this,” said Larry, during the ceremony. “It is so easy to talk about other people...[but] it gets difficult to talk about your loved one, your daughter. Cierra would be really proud to know her name would be here, where every Airman who comes through the door has the ability to lead instilled in them. We know leadership can’t come from a textbook...at some point it requires sacrifice. It requires an act that you put others ahead of yourself. If you’re that leader, you’re going to make the right choice, which is what Cierra did.” 
During the ceremony Rogers was posthumously awarded the Airman’s Medal. A sign bearing the school’s new name was also unveiled.  
The process of renaming the schoolhouse began shortly after Rogers’ death and, after approval, the staff scheduled the ceremony to fall between the anniversary of the incident and the anniversary of her death. The staff wanted to rename the schoolhouse in Rogers’ honor, not only because she was an alumnus, but for everything she stood for. 
“Her leadership philosophy was from Donald McGannon, ‘Leadership is an action, not a position,’” said Master Sgt. Andrew Post, JBSA Rogers ALS commandant. “What she did is proof she exemplified that philosophy. “We have these students for five weeks and teach them how to go out and lead,” he continued. 
“We teach service before self, and we usually relate that to our service commitment, but it's also servitude to the people we protect and she was the embodiment of that.” 
The ceremony concluded with memorial pushups honoring Rogers, fallen Airmen and the Air Force core values.ALS 



Service before self 



NCO 



cyberspace 



core values 



Osan Air Base 



JBSA 



Airman Leadership School 



non commissioned officer 



Airmans Medal 



Joint Base San Antonio Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil