John Shalikashvili

John Shalikashvili
General John Shalikashvili, US Army (Ret.)
Birth name	John Malchase David Shalikashvili
Nickname	General Shali
Born	(1936-06-27)June 27, 1936
Died	July 23, 2011(2011-07-23) (aged 75)
Place of birth	Warsaw, Poland
Place of death	Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, U.S.
Place of burial	Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1958–1997
Rank	General
Commands held	Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 9th Infantry Division (United States), Operation Provide Comfort
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards
Relations	Joan (Zimpelman) Shalikashvili (wife), Brant Shalikashvili (son) Gunhild Bartsch (wife, died 1965)
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 language: ჯონ მალხაზ დავით შალიკაშვილი , IPA: [ʃalikʼaʃvili]; June 27, 1936 – July 23, 2011) was a United States Army General who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Supreme Allied Commander from 1993 to 1997. He was born in Warsaw, Poland to Georgian parents.

Shalikashvili was the first foreign-born soldier to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He served in every level of unit command from platoon to division. Shalikashvili died of a stroke in 2011.

Early life and family

John Shalikashvili was a scion of the medieval Georgian noble house of Shalikashvili. His father, Prince Dimitri Shalikashvili (1896–1978), born in Gurjaani served in the army of Imperial Russia; Dimitri was a grandson of Russian general Dmitry Staroselsky. John Shalikashvili's mother was countess Maria Rüdiger-Beliaev.

After the Bolshevik Revolution, Dimitri became a lieutenant-colonel in the army of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. When the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Georgia in 1921, Dimitri was on diplomatic service in Turkey. Dimitri then joined other Georgian exiles in Poland, where he met and married John's mother, Maria; she was Polish and of part German ancestry, and the daughter of Count Rudiger-Bielajew, a former Tsarist general. They had three children: Othar, John and Gale. Dimitri served in the Polish Army (along with other Georgian exiles) as a contract officer.

In 1939, he fought against the German invasion of Poland. After the Polish defeat, Dimitri was demobilized. In 1941, he enlisted in the Georgian Legion, a force of ethnic Georgians recruited by Germany to fight against the Soviet Union. The unit was later incorporated into the SS-Waffengruppe Georgien and transferred to Normandy. Dimitri surrendered to British forces and was a prisoner of war until after the war. A collection of Dimitri Shalikashvili's writings are on deposit at the Hoover Institution. Meanwhile, Maria, John and his two brothers lived through the destruction of Warsaw. As the Red Army approached Warsaw in 1944, the family fled to Pappenheim, Germany, being reunited with Dimitri along the way. It was in Pappenheim in the closing days of World War II that John first laid eyes on American soldiers. His family stayed with relatives there in Pappenheim for eight years.

In 1952, when John was 16, the family emigrated to Peoria, Illinois. They were sponsored by Winifred Luthy, the wife of a local banker, who 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:

“

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.

”

Shalikashvili went to Peoria High School, where he was a long distance runner. He attended Bradley University in Peoria, and received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1958. He is a member of Theta Chi Fraternity. He later received a master's degree in International Affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University.

General Shalikashvili greets President Clinton.

In May 1958, Shalikashvili and his family became American citizens. It was the first citizenship he ever held. He had previously been classified as "stateless", since he had been born to parents who had been refugees.

Army career

Secretary of Defense William Cohen (left) and Gen. John M. Shalikashvili (right) at Pentagon briefing on July 31, 1997.

After graduation he had planned to work for Hyster Lift Truck, but received a draft notice in July 1958. He entered the Army as a private, enjoyed it, and applied to Officer Candidate School. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1959.

Shalikashvili served in various Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery positions as a platoon leader, forward observer, instructor, and student, in various staff positions, and as a battery commander. He served in Vietnam in Quang Tri Province with Advisory Team 4 (redesignated Team 19 in September, 1968), Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), as a senior district advisor from 1968 to 1969. He was awarded a Bronze Star with "V" for heroism during his Vietnam tour. Immediately after his Vietnam service, he attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

In 1970, he became executive officer of 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 served as the Commander of Division Artillery (DIVARTY) for the 1st Armored Division in Germany. He later became the assistant division commander. In 1987, Shalikashvili commanded the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis. There he oversaw a “high technology test bed” tasked to integrate three brigades—one heavy armor, one light infantry, and one “experimental mechanized”—into a new type of fighting force.

Shalikashvili achieved real distinction with his considerable success as the commander of Operation Provide Comfort, the peacekeeping and humanitarian activity in northern Iraq after the Gulf War. This assignment involved intense and complex negotiations with the Turkish government, and tough face-to-face meetings with the Iraqi military. Another important achievement was the establishment of the Joint Vision 2010 program, which would transfer the United States military into one great and effective digitalized military force.

Shalikashvili was appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1993 by President Clinton, effective October 25. He retired from the Army in September 1997, after serving for 38 years.

Post-military career and death

Gen. John M. Shalikashvili at his farewell ceremony on September 30, 1997.

Shalikashvili was an advisor to John Kerry's 2004 Presidential campaign. He was a visiting professor at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. He served as a director of Russell Investments, L-3 Communications, Inc., Plug Power Inc., United Defense, Inc., the Initiative for Global Development, and the National Bureau of Asian Research.

Shalikashvili was married and had one son, Brant, a graduate of Washington State University. John also had a daughter Debra.

Shalikashvili suffered a severe stroke on August 7, 2004.

In 2006 the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) launched the John M. Shalikashvili Chair in National Security Studies to recognize Shalikashvili for his years of military service and for his leadership on NBR’s Board of Directors.

In 2007, Shalikashvili penned an op-ed in the New York Times calling for a reversal of Don't ask, don't tell. A similar op-ed by him appeared in the June 19, 2009, issue of Washington Post. The policy was reversed July 22, 2011, the day before his death.

Shalikashvili died at the age of 75 on July 23, 2011, at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, from a stroke. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Awards and decorations

	Defense Distinguished Service Medal (with 3 oak leaf clusters)
	Distinguished Service Medal, Army
	Legion of Merit (with 2 oak leaf clusters)
	Bronze Star (with Valor device)
	Meritorious Service Medal (with 3 oak leaf clusters)
	Air Medal
	Joint Service Commendation Medal
	Army Commendation Medal
	National Defense Service Medal (with bronze service star)
	Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
	Vietnam Service Medal (with silver service star)
	Southwest Asia Service Medal
	Humanitarian Service Medal
	Army Service Ribbon
	Overseas Service Ribbon (with award numeral 5)
	Presidential Medal of Freedom
	Inter-American Defense Board Medal
	Vietnam Gallantry Cross (with two silver stars (Division citation) and one bronze star (Regiment citation))
	Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal
	Vietnam Campaign Medal
	Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
	Meritorious Service Cross (Canada)
	Bund Naturschutz Medal (Germany)

	Combat Infantryman Badge
	Parachutist Badge (United States)
	Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge
	Army Staff Identification Badge
	9th Infantry Division (mechanized) Shoulder Sleeve Insignia

In 1996, he was the first recipient of the Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award.

Ancestry

Ancestors of John M. Shalikashvili

16. Prince Ioseb Shalikashvili

8. Prince Ivane Shalikashvili

17. Princess Mariam Andronikashvili

4. Prince Ioseb Shalikashvili

18. Prince Noshrevan Chavchavadze

9. Princess Daria Chavchavadze

19. Princess Nino Vachnadze

2. Prince Dimitri Shalikashvili

20. Semyon Staroselsky

10. Dmitry Staroselsky

21. ?

5. Nina Staroselskaya

22. Prince Tadeoz Guramishvili

11. Princess Ekaterine Guramishvili

23. Elisabed N.

1. John M. Shalikashvil

24. Mikhail Belyaev

12. Alexei Belyaev

25. ?

6. Alexander Belyaev

26. Alexander Daler

13. Maria Daler

27. ?

3. Countess Maria Rüdiger-Belyaeva

28. George German Rüdiger

14. Count Fyodor Rüdiger

29. Auguste von Huhn

7. Countess Maria Rüdiger

30. Yulii von Krusenstern

15. Sofia von Krusenstern

31. Elzaveta Furman

External links

• Shalikashvili calls for rethinking ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
• Andrew Marble, "In Memoriam: How General John Shalikashvili 'Paid It Forward' to 500,000 Others," Joint Forces Quarterly 63 (October 2011), 4-5.
• The Life and Legacy of Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, Q&A with Shali biographer Andrew Marble (August 2011)