Vakhtang Kapanadze
{{short description|Georgian major general (born 1960)}}
{{Infobox military person|name= Vakhtang Kapanadze
|birth_date= {{birth date and age|1960|8|17|df=y}}
|birth_place= Tbilisi, Soviet Union
{{small|(now Georgia)}}
|image= Georgian Army hosts Easter ceremony, Helmand. 2014 05.jpg
|caption= Vakhtang Kapanadze, 2014
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|Georgia}}
|branch= 23px Georgian Armed Forces
23px Land Forces
|serviceyears = 1990–present
|rank= File:Georgia Army OF-8.png
|commands= Georgian Armed Forces
- 2003–2004, Georgian Peacekeeping Battalion in South Ossetia
- 2004–2005, Chief of General Staff
- 2008–2012, Deputy Chief of Counter Intelligence
- 2013–2016, Chief of General Staff
|unit=
|battles= Abkhazian War
Iraq War
Afghanistan War
Russo-Georgian war
|laterwork=
}}
Vakhtang Kapanadze ({{lang-ka|ვახტანგ კაპანაძე}}) (born 17 August 1960) is a Georgian major general who was Chief of General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces from 22 November 2013 to 22 November 2016. He held the same command from August 2004 to February 2005. Prior he was in charge of the Georgian peacekeeping battalion deployed in South Ossetia before the war broke out.
Career
Kapanadze graduated from the Faculty of Geography and Geology, Tbilisi State University, in 1983. He then studied at Georgia's Academy of Interior and has also been trained at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, National Academy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and U.S. Army War College. A veteran of the civil wars of the early 1990s, Kapanadze commanded a Georgian peacekeeping battalion in South Ossetia in 2004 and served as the Chief of the General Staff from August 2004 to February 2005.[http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7695 New Chief of Staff Appointed]. Civil Georgia. August 25, 2004 In 2005, he briefly served as a military aide to the President of Georgia, and was then employed as a special envoy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia in Poland from 2007 to 2008. He was deputy head of the foreign intelligence service of Georgia from 2008 until October 2012, when Brigadier General Kapanadze was appointed Deputy Chief of Joint Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces. He again became Chief of General Staff, succeeding Colonel Irakli Dzneladze, on 22 November 2013.[http://civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=26713 New Army Chief of Staff Appointed]. Civil Georgia. November 22, 2013.[http://en.trend.az/regions/scaucasus/georgia/2214081.html Heads of General Staff and Investigation Service appointed in Georgia]. Trend News Agency. November 22, 2013. On this occasion, he was promoted to major general. His term expired on 22 November 2016 and was succeeded by Brigadier General Vladimer Chachibaia. He was appointed as Georgia's top military representative to NATO.{{cite news |title=Ex-head of Georgian Army named country’s top envoy to NATO |url=http://agenda.ge/en/news/2016/2914 |accessdate=17 January 2019 |work=Agenda.ge |date=23 November 2016}} Kapanadze is the recipient of the orders of Honor and Vakhtang Gorgasali, 3rd Rank.
References
{{reflist}}
{{commonscat|Vakhtang Kapanadze}}
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{{s-mil}}
{{succession box | before=Givi Iukuridze |title=Chief of General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces | years=2004 – 2005 | after=Levan Nikoleishvili}}
{{succession box | before=Irakli Dzneladze |title=Chief of General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces | years=2013 – 2016 | after=Vladimer Chachibaia}}
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{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapanadze, Vakhtang}}
Category:Generals of the Defense Forces of Georgia
Category:Recipients of the Order of Honor (Georgia)
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