Lieutenant commander
Rodgers was detached before that submarine was commissioned and ordered to Coco Solo submarine base in the Panama Canal Zone in October 1923. He served as Engineer and Repair officer until September 1925, when he returned to the United States for duty at Portsmouth Navy Yard in connection with fitting out of submarine "USS Bonita". Upon the commissioning of that vessel, Rodgers was appointed an Executive officer under lieutenant commander Charles A. Lockwood and participated in the patrolling the Atlantic shores and Caribbean until May 1927. Rodgers was promoted to Lieutenant commander on October 2, 1926.