John Malchase David Shalikashvili was a United States Army general who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 1992 to 1993 and the 13th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, in the family of émigré Georgian officer Dimitri Shalikashvili and his Polish wife Maria Rüdiger-Belyaeva. In 1996, he was the first recipient of the Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award.
Shalikashvili in August 1993
Shalikashvili with U.S. President Clinton.
U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen (left) and Shalikashvili (right) at a Pentagon briefing on July 31, 1997.
Shalikashvili at his farewell ceremony on September 30, 1997.
Supreme Allied Commander Europe
The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is based at SHAPE in Casteau, Belgium. Effectively SACEUR is the second-highest military position within NATO, below only the Chair of the NATO Military Committee in terms of precedence. There is another Supreme Allied Commander in NATO, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), titularly equal, but their duties are less important. SACT, in Norfolk, Virginia, has responsibility for capability development, rather than operations.
Supreme Allied Commander Europe
Gen. Eisenhower in front of the flag of SHAPE on 8 October 1951
2013 SACEUR change of command at SHAPE
Image: Eisenhower Chiefof Staff Portrait