John Shalikashvili
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| John Malchase David Shalikashvili (Georgian: ჯონ მალხაზ შალიკაშვილი) |
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 General John Shalikashvili US Army (Ret.) |
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| Place of birth | Warsaw, Poland |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1958-1997 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
| Awards | Defense Distinguished Service Medal (4) Distinguished Service Medal, Army Legion of Merit (3) Bronze Star (with "V" Device)br/>Air Medal Meritorious Service Medal |
| Other work | visiting professor, Stanford University Director, Frank Russell Trust Company Director, L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. Director, Plug Power Inc. Director, United Defense Industries, Inc. |
John Malchase David Shalikashvili (Georgian: ჯონ მალხაზ შალიკაშვილი) (born June 27, 1936) is a retired general of the United States Army who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997. He was born in Warsaw, Poland to Georgian parents. His father, Dimitri, was a lieutenant-colonel in the army of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1918-1921. Both of his parents fled to Poland after the occupation of Georgia by the Russian SFSR in 1921. They met in Warsaw and had three children, Othar, John and Gale. Dimitri then served in the Polish Army as a contract officer.
General Shalikashvili became the only immigrant in United States history to become a general of the United States Army[citation needed] and rose in rank through every unit command from battalion to division.[1] Shalikashvili helped Bill Clinton to make one of the most important decisions in terms of global security and impressed the administration by the high standard of his military professionalism.[2]
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[edit] Early Life and Family
John Shalikashvili is a scion of the medieval Georgian noble house of Shalikashvili. His father, Prince Dimitri Shalikashvili served in the armies of Imperial Russia and then of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. At the time of the Soviet Red Army invasion of Georgia early in 1921, he was on a diplomatic mission in Turkey whence he moved to Eastern Europe and joined the Georgian emigration in Poland. He entered the Polish military service and fought in the 1939 Invasion of Poland against the invading German armies. Being demobilized after the Polish defeat, Shalikashvili enlisted, in 1941, in the newly created by the Germans Georgische Legion (whose members were ethnic Georgian volunteers).[3] The unit was later incorporated into the SS-Waffengruppe Georgien and transferred to Normandy. Dimitri eventually surrendered to the British and was held in a prisoner of war camp until after the war. A collection of Dimitri Shalikashvili’s writings are on deposit at the Hoover Institution.
Meanwhile, John, his mother and two siblings lived through the destruction of Warsaw. As the Red Army approached Warsaw in 1945, the family fled to Pappenheim, Germany where they were eventually reunited with Dimitri, and stayed with relatives for eight years.
In 1952, when John was 16, the family immigrated to Peoria, Illinois. They were sponsored by Winifred Luthy, the wife of a local banker. She was previously married to Dimitri's cousin. The Luthys and the Episcopal Church helped the Shalikashvili family get started, finding jobs and a home for them. Dimitri worked for Ameren, and Maria was a file clerk at Commercial National Bank.
When John arrived in Peoria he spoke little English. He has recalled it this way:
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I spoke a little bit [of English]. But not much beyond yes and no and what time is it. And the stories that subsequently have been told that I learned English by watching John Wayne movies is only a little bit of a stretch. . . .As school was over [at Peoria High School], I would run to the local movie theater. There I would sit through movies in order to learn English. In those days movies didn't start at a specific time and end at a specific time, but they would roll continuously. . . The first time through it wouldn't make much sense to me. But the second time through, it would begin to make a little more sense. Now in my memory, that is probably very faulty, a lot of those movies were John Wayne movies or at least were Wild West movies. |
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Shalikashvili graduated from Peoria High School, where he was a long distance runner. He attended the local university, Bradley University, and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in June 1958. He is a member of Theta Chi Fraternity.
In May 1958, Shalikashvili and his family were sworn in as American citizens. It was the first citizenship he ever held. He had previously been a refugee who had only been classified as "stateless", since he had been born to parents who had been refugees.
[edit] Army career
After graduation he had planned to work for Hyster Lift Truck, but received a draft notice in July 1958. He entered the US Army as a private, enjoyed it and applied to Officer Candidate School, and received his commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in 1959.
Early in his commissioned career, Shalikashvili served in various Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery positions as a platoon leader, forward observer, instructor, student and various staff positions and company commander before being sent to Vietnam where he served as a senior district advisor for Advisory Team 19, U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), from 1968 to 1969. Immediately following Vietnam, he attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
In 1970, he became the executive officer to the 2nd Battalion, 18th Field Artillery at Fort Lewis, Washington. Later in 1975, he commanded 1st Battalion, 84th Field Artillery, 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis. In 1977, he attended the U.S. Army War College and later served as the Commander of Division Artillery (DIVARTY) for the 1st Armored Division in Germany and eventually would become the assistant division commander. In 1987, Shalikashvili would command the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis.
Shalikashvili achieved real distinction with his considerable success as the commander of "Operation Provide Comfort" in Northern Iraq. This mission involved intense and complex negotiations with the Turkish government, as well as tough face-to-face meetings with the Iraqi military.[4]
Shalikashvili would later rise to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was appointed to that position by President Bill Clinton, effective October 25, 1993. He retired from the Army in September 1997, after serving for 38 years.
[edit] Decorations and Badges
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Defense Distinguished Service Medal (with 3 Oak leaf clusters) |
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Distinguished Service Medal, Army |
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Legion of Merit (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters) |
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Bronze Star (with Valor device) |
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Meritorious Service Medal (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters) |
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Air Medal |
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Joint Service Commendation Medal |
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Army Commendation Medal |
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Presidential Medal of Freedom |
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National Defense Service Medal with bronze service star in lieu of two campaigns |
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Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal |
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Vietnam Service Medal with silver service star in lieu of five campaigns |
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Southwest Asia Service Medal |
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Humanitarian Service Medal |
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Overseas Service Ribbon with numeral 5 device |
- Inter-American Defense Board Medal
- Combat Infantryman Badge
- Parachutist Badge
- Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge
- Army Staff Identification Badge
- Vietnam - Vietnam Gallantry Cross with two silver stars (Division citation) and one bronze star (Regiment citation)
- Vietnam - Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal (First Class)
- Vietnam - Vietnam Campaign Medal with 1960 bar
- Canada - Meritorious Service Decoration (Military Division), M.S.C. [3]
- Germany - Bund Naturschutz Medal [4]
[edit] Current Activities
He is now a visiting professor at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. He is married and has one son, Brant, a graduate of Washington State University. He was an advisor to John Kerry's campaign for president in 2004. He also serves as a director of Russell Investments, L-3 Communications, Inc., Plug Power Inc., United Defense, Inc., and the National Bureau of Asian Research.
General Shalikashvili suffered a severe stroke on August 7, 2004.
[edit] References
- ^ Luttwak, " Why Clinton Called Upon Shalikashvili," Sacramento Bee, 22 August 1993
- ^ Charles Fenyvesi, "Washington Whispers: Clinton Encouraged on Haiti by Shalikashvili's Can-do Attitude," U.S. News and World Report, 26 September 1994, 40.
- ^ [1][2]
- ^ GOLDSTEIN, LYLE J. (Spring 2000)General John Shalikashvili and the Civil-Military Relations of Peacekeeping. In Armed Forces & Society: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 26, p387.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Retired General Changes Mind on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
- Shalikashvili calls for rethinking ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
| Preceded by Gen. John Galvin |
Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO) 1992—1993 |
Succeeded by Gen. George Joulwan |
| Preceded by Adm. David E. Jeremiah (acting Chairman) |
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1993—1997 |
Succeeded by Gen. Hugh Shelton |
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