Othar Joseph Shalikashvili is a retired United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 colonel

Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...

 of Georgian

Georgians

The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....

 origin. He is the elder brother of General John Shalikashvili.

Othar J. Shalikashvili was born in Milanówek

Milanówek

Milanówek is a town and a seat of a separate commune in Poland. Located in the Grodzisk Mazowiecki County near Warsaw, it is often considered an outlying suburb of the capital of Poland but is in fact an independent entity administratively and culturally. Milanówek is however part of wider Warsaw...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, into the family of the émigré Georgian officer Prince Dimitri Shalikashvili and his wife Countess Maria Rüdiger-Belyaeva. The family moved to the United States in the 1950s. Having graduated from the Officer Candidate School

Officer Candidate School (U.S. Army)

The United States Army's Officer Candidate School , located at Fort Benning, Georgia, provides training to become a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army...

 in 1955, Othar J. Shalikashvili joined the U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 and participated in the Special Forces Qualification Course. From December 1970 to May 1971, he commanded the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment

506th Parachute Infantry Regiment

The 506th Infantry Regiment is a unit assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division. During World War II, the unit was designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment ....

 in the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. Since 1971, he worked for the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...

 and served as a military instructor. From 1977 to 1978, he was the commander of the 10th Special Forces Group

10th Special Forces Group (United States)

The 10th Special Forces Group is an Active Duty United States Army Special Forces group. The 10th Special Forces Group is responsible for operations within the EUCOM area of responsibility, as part of the Special Operations Command, Europe , as well as parts of Africa and the Middle East.10th SFG...

.

After his retirement from the army service, Shalikashvili was appointed, in 2001, as a U.S. Secretary of Defense Senior Military Consultant on 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...

Defense Matters. He is also a member of the Board of Advisers of the Georgian Association in the United States of America.