Major General Roger Warren Sandler, a career soldier who rose from a Brooklyn boyhood to the senior leadership of America's citizen-soldiers, died on June 23, 2026, at the age of 92, in Columbus, Georgia. His life of service spanned nearly four decades in uniform and a second chapter spent advocating for the men and women of the nation's reserve forces.

Born on February 23, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York, he spent part of his youth in the Midwest, where he attended Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa. He entered the United States Army in August 1956, beginning a journey that would carry him from junior officer to the highest uniformed post in the Army Reserve.

Over some thirty-seven years of service, Sandler advanced steadily through the ranks, eventually earning his second star as a major general. His career unfolded during decades of profound change for the country's reserve components, as the Army Reserve grew from a strategic backstop into an operational force expected to train, deploy, and serve alongside its active-duty counterparts.

On August 1, 1991, Sandler was appointed Chief of the United States Army Reserve, the senior adviser to Army leadership on reserve matters and the steward of hundreds of thousands of soldiers who served part time while holding civilian jobs and raising families. He assumed the role at a pivotal moment. That autumn, the Army consolidated its sprawling reserve troop structure under a single new headquarters, the U.S. Army Reserve Command, which came to be based at Fort McPherson, Georgia. Sandler took the reins of that command as it became fully operational, helping to knit a more unified and ready Army Reserve from a patchwork of separate organizations.

As Chief, he championed the readiness, training, and recognition of reserve soldiers at a time when their contributions were becoming central to how the nation defended itself. He held the position until January 31, 1994, when he brought his active military career to a close.

Retirement from the Army did not end his commitment to those who serve. He went on to lead the Reserve Officers Association as its national executive director, continuing to speak for the citizen-soldiers and reserve officers whose cause had defined his years in uniform.

Sandler made his later home in Columbus, Georgia, a community with deep military roots. He was laid to rest at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery, among fellow veterans who answered their country's call.

Roger W. Sandler will be remembered as a soldier who devoted his life to strengthening the reserve forces that quietly sustain the United States Army. From the early days of a long enlistment to the command of a national headquarters, he helped shape an Army Reserve that was more capable, more respected, and more ready than the one he had joined as a young man. His legacy endures in the institutions he helped build and in the generations of part-time soldiers who continue to carry forward the standard of service he upheld.