Principal US Military Decorations and Qualifications Defense Distinguished Service Medal (with 3 oak leaf clusters) Navy Distinguished Service Medal Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit (with oak leaf cluster) Soldier's Medal Bronze Star Purple Heart Air Medal Joint Service Commendation Medal Army Commendation Medal (with 2 oak leaf clusters) Ranger Parachutist Air Assault Pathfinder Combat Infantryman JOHN MALCHASE DAVID SHALIKASHVILI 25 October 1993 - 30 September 1997 ohn Shalikashvili was born 27 June 1936 in Warsaw, Poland. During World War II he lived through the German occupation of Poland, the 1944 Warsaw uprising, and flight to Germany. In 1952 he emigrated with his family to the United States, settling in Peoria, Illinois. Shalikashvili entered Peoria Central High School, graduating in 1954. He received a scholarship to Bradley University. There he enrolled in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), but his eyesight was not good enough for him to become a pilot. Shalikashvili became a US citizen in May 1958, received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Bradley that June, and was drafted into the Army in July. Six months later, Private Shalikashvili was selected for Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Upon graduation in July 1959, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the field artillery. His first leadership assignment-in charge of a mortar platoon in Alaska-proved so challenging and enjoyable that he decided to make the Army his career. After promotion to first lieutenant in January 1961, Shalikashvili left Alaska for the Army Air Defense School at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he was an instructor in several courses and later a student in the advanced course. Promoted to captain in July 1963, he remained at Fort Bliss as a staff officer at the Army Air Defense Center. From February 1965 to January 1968 he served in information, operations, and command positions with US Army Europe in Germany not far from where he had spent much of his childhood. He was promoted to major in August 1967. General John M. Shalikashvili United States Army |