MG Sidney Shachnow

Commanding General, SF Command and JFK Special Warfare Center & School
(1934-2018)

Bio

A Holocaust survivor, Sidney Shachnow rose through the enlisted and officer ranks to become Commanding General, U.S. Army Special Forces Command and John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

Shachnow enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1955. His special operations career began in 1963, and included service in South Vietnam, and command of SF Detachment-A, in Cold War Berlin.

Shachnow served as the G3, Chief of Staff, and Deputy Commanding General for 1st Special Operations Command during a critical five year period. He worked for the establishment of SF as an Army Branch, revitalized training, and shaped the birth of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command as a Major Command.

He produced soldiers with the regional orientation, languages, and capability to work ‘by, with and through’ host nation forces. In doing so, MG Shachnow laid the modern foundations of Special Forces. After retirement he continued to support the community as a senior mentor and board member for various charities.

PHOTOS

VIDEOS

The Bull Simons Awards Ceremony, 18 April 2019

SWCS interview of MG Shachnow, recorded March 18, 2010 at his home in Southern Pines.
Interview by Janice Burton, video by Jason Gambardella

QUESTION 1 What does the word "teammate" mean to you?

QUESTION 2 Being in SF, does that word become more important?

QUESTION 3 How did you feel the day that you were awarded your Green Beret?

QUESTION 4 They use the word "brotherhood" a lot when talking about Special Forces, would you use that word in a definition about how you feel about your Special Forces family?

QUESTION 5 Do you have one specific memory of your Special Forces days that you look back and say 'that really embodies what Special Forces was about'?

QUESTION 6 Now, as the honorary Colonel of the regiment, one of the tasks they say you are going to have is to pass on the heritage and the history of the regiment. How do you make that kind of connection to these young soldiers that are graduating from the Q-course today?

QUESTION 7 Have you had the opportunity over the past few years to talk with some of these young men coming in and swap war stories or some of the ones who have been recently in the field?

QUESTION 8 They just started the new buzzphrases "ARSOF for life" and that's something that probably popped up maybe four years ago, what does that phrase mean to you as someone who's spent more than 30 years in Special Forces?

QUESTION 9 Have you seen the Special Forces training and education evolve? Because you were the SWCS Commander in charge of training, have you kept that close relationship?

QUESTION 10 What does it mean to you this honor of being named, by your peers, the "Colonel of the Regiment"?

"The Quiet Professional," MG Sidney Shachnow on his leadership philosophy for U.S. Army Special Forces Command

The Quiet Professional PART 1

The Quiet Professional PART 2

The Quiet Professional PART 3

The Quiet Professional PART 4

MG Sidney Shachnow

Commanding General, SF Command and JFK Special Warfare Center & School (1934-2018)

Bio

PHOTOS

VIDEOS

Commanding General, SF Command and JFK Special Warfare Center & School
(1934-2018)