David Nairashvili (born October 24, 1964) is a Georgian

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 brigadier general

Brigadier General

Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...

 (2008) and Deputy Chief of Joint Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces since September 2008.

Nairashvili graduated from the Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 Mozhaisky Military Space Engineering Institute in 1986 and served in the Soviet Space Forces until 1989. Since 1992, he has held various positions in the National Guard of Georgia

National Guard of Georgia

The National Guard of Georgia is a military structure within the Georgian Armed Forces and has a department status within the Ministry of Defense. It is tasked with responding to external threats, civil disturbances, and natural disasters...

 and Ministry of Defense of Georgia, including being Deputy Commander of Georgian Air Force

Georgian Air Force

The Georgian Air Force is the air arm of the Georgian Armed Forces. Currently, it has 2,971 military and civilian personnel, fixed wing aircraft , helicopters of different types and air defense missiles of the "surface-to-air" class. The Air Force was founded in 1991 in the wake of the break-up...

 (1993-1994), and Deputy Chief of General Staff (1999-2000, 2004-2005). From 2000 to 2004, he served as Georgia’s first representative to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe is the central command of NATO military forces. It is located at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons...

 in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

.

From March 2007 to September 2008, Nairashvili commanded the Georgian Air Force which saw combat action in the August 2008 war with Russia

2008 South Ossetia war

The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....

. In April 2009, he was decorated with Georgia’s highest military award – St. George’s Victory Order – for his conduct during the war.