Vladimer Chachibaia

Vladimer Chachibaia
Born	November 4, 1971
Allegiance	Georgia
Service/branch	Georgian Land Forces
Rank
Commands held	Georgian Armed Forces 2008–2009 Chief of Joint Staff Armed Forces 2009 First Deputy Minister of Defence 2014–2015 Deputy Chief of General Staff 2015 Rector of National Defense Academy

Vladimer Chachibaia (Georgian: ვლადიმერ ჩაჩიბაია) (born November 4, 1971) is a Georgian military officer who is currently Rector of National Defense Academy of Georgia. He was Chief of Joint Staff of the armed forces from November 4, 2008 to March 5, 2009.^[1]

Chachibaia was a private in the Soviet Air Forces from 1989 until 1991, when he joined the newly established National Guard of Georgia as a NCO. He commanded a National Guard platoon in the Georgian Civil War of 1992-1993 and continued his service in the Georgian army as a recon and special task forces officer. He studied at the United Military Academy in Tbilisi, Georgia from 1993 to 1994 and attended several courses of military training in the United States, including at the U.S. Army War College in the years 2007-2008.

Chachibaia commanded a Georgian contingent within the Multinational force in Iraq in 2004 and was appointed a commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Georgia in 2005. He has since served in the General Staff, later known as the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Georgia (JS GAF), and was an acting commander of the Georgian Land Forces in 2006. Having briefly served as Head of Education Department of the JS GAF in September–November 2008, Chachibaia replaced General Zaza Gogava as the Chief of JS GAF after the August 2008 war with Russia.^[2] He briefly served as Deputy Defense Minister in 2009 and became Deputy Chief of General Staff of Georgian Armed Forces in 2012. In 2014 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. In October 2015, Chachibaia was appointed as High Military Adviser of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). In November 2015, he was appointed as Rector of the National Defense Academy. As his mission with the UNAMA is due to expire in October 2016, Colonel Malkhaz Makaradze will served as Acting Rector during Chachibaia's absence from Georgia.^[3]

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