About
The U.S. Senate on Jan. 20, 2009, confirmed General (Ret.) Eric K. Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
President Barack Obama on Dec. 7, 2008, announced that he would be appointing Secretary Shinseki. Secretary Shinseki is the first Asian American to lead the department and only the third Asian American ever appointed and confirmed to a Cabinet post.
General Shinseki, the highest-ranking Asian American in our country’s military history, served as the Army’s 34th Chief of Staff from June 1999 until June 2003.
General Shinseki served in the United States Army for 38 years and held a number of key command positions, including Commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe and Commander of the NATO Peace Stabilization Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. A West Point graduate, Shinseki became the highest-ranking Asian-American in U.S. military history when he assumed the duties of Army Chief of Staff in June 1999.
General Shinseki departed the Chief of Staff’s position on June 11, 2003, and retired from the Army in August. He received numerous U.S. and foreign military decorations, including awards of the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart, as well as the NATO Service Medal, and recognition by the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, and Thailand for his military service.
Shinseki’s legacy includes the development and implementation of a plan to transform the Army as it prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. This “Transformation” plan changed how the Army manages its forces, systems and processes. As Chief of Staff, he helped to lead an Army with an annual budget of $91.3 billion and more than one million people.
General Shinseki also developed a Strategic Leadership Program to prepare 300 junior general officers to lead the Army after 2010. He benchmarked top corporate leadership across various industries and conducted an internal development study, which was the most comprehensive study of leadership and leader development in the Army’s history. Shinseki’s global perspective is the result of his leadership positions in Southeast Asia, Germany, Italy and Bosnia.
General Shinseki has a B.S. in Engineering from the United States Military Academy and an M.A. in English Literature, from Duke University. He was born on Nov. 28, 1942, in Lihue, Hawai’i.
He has served on the board of directors of Ducommun, Inc., First Hawaiian Bank, Grove Farm Company, Inc. and Honeywell International, Inc. His is a member of the Senior Advisory Council to the U.S. Comptroller General, Government Accountability Office, an advisory board member with the Center for Public Leadership, JFK School of Government, Harvard University, and a member of DC Capital Partners, LLC’s advisory board.
OTHER BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES
Richard Halloran, former military correspondent for The New York Times, is author of a biography of General Eric Shinseki, available only through the Hawai’i Army Museum Store.
9 Comments
admin on December 19th, 2008
tickler2, thank you so much for your comment. this blog is not affiliated with Gen. Shinseki so it’s better if you share your thoughts by filling out this form on the change.gov site:
http://change.gov/page/content/contact/
R.A. Guiliani on May 20th, 2009
My husband served in the U.S. Navy from 1951 - 59 and was astounded to learn that Korean War Vets are considered as having served in a NON-combat zone. I am sure the 56,000 plus fatalities and unknown number of wounded in one of the most man-costly war in our history would also be astounded and disgusted. They were drafted to serve their country, benefits were promised, but our country has turned its back on them with this insult. Why this classification?
dcombs on July 5th, 2009
I want to ask when are veterans going to be given their due respect by the government. I want to know when the welfare of of veterans will out weigh the corporate wall that has been built. when our government is going to think it is more important to keep veterans employed than it is to allow ceo’s and other corporate officials to get bonuses and layoff employees for them to get these bonuses
Chanara Casey Richmond on January 4th, 2010
I need to contact Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs. The http://www.va.gov website does not include his contact information. Would a letter sent to 810 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20420 get to him?
thanks,
chanara casey richmond
admin on January 4th, 2010
Chanara Casey Richmond: You don’t mention the nature of the correspondence, so you’re better off calling the Dept. first one of the numbers listed on the website
https://iris.va.gov/scripts/iris.cfg/php.exe/enduser/cci/phonenbrs.php
kd9969 on January 4th, 2010
the nature of the correspondance is our general indicates he wants to end homelessness in 5 yrs. how will this happen if they continue to hire high wage pencil pushers, wont address incarcerated veterans issues and sex offenders. they arent going away and the numbers grow. but the gs 12 positions could care less, wont listen and are unwilling to take real action
this is for general shinseki.
dracca on January 5th, 2010
What is General Shinseki’s address and why is it being withheld on the VA website. The phone directory that you provided is useless.
admin on January 6th, 2010
The postal address is very clearly at the bottom of the VA website:
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420
tickler2 on December 16th, 2008
GEN SHINSEKA, FIRST AND FOREMOST CONGRATS ON YOUR NEW POSITION, I WANT TO KNOW HOW ARE YOU PLANNING ON CHANGING THE VETERSN ADMIN? ITS A NITEMERE AT THE VA IN GETTING BENEFITS AND GETTING A PROPER RATING ON A DISABILITY, MAYBE A CHANGE OF RATING SYSTEM OR PERSONNAL? IM HOPING YOU WILL MAKE A CHANGE IN A CORRUPT SYSTEM THANK YOU.