Eric Shinseki Eric Ken Shinseki ( ; born November 28 , 1942 ) is a retired United States Army four - star general who has served as the seventh United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs since 2009 . His final U . S . Army post was as the 34th Chief of Staff of the Army ( 1999 – 2003 ) . He is a veteran of combat in the Vietnam War , where he sustained a foot injury . Early life and education . Shinseki was born in Lihue , Kauai , in the then Territory of Hawaii , to an American family of Japanese ancestry . His grandparents emigrated from Hiroshima to Hawaii in 1901 . He grew up in a sugar plantation community on Kaua ' i and graduated from Kaua ' i High and Intermediate School in 1960 . While attending Kaua ' i he was active in the Boy Scouts and served as class president . After high school , he attended the United States Military Academy and graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as a second lieutenant . He earned a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from Duke University . He was also educated at the Armor Officer Advanced Course , the United States Army Command and General Staff College , and the National War College . Military service . Shinseki served in a variety of command and staff assignments in the Continental United States and overseas , including two combat tours with the 9th and 25th Infantry Divisions in the Republic of Vietnam as an artillery forward observer and as commander of Troop A , 3rd Squadron , 5th Cavalry Regiment . During one of those tours , he stepped on a land mine , which blew the front off one of his feet . He has served at Schofield Barracks , Hawai ' i with Headquarters , United States Army Hawaii , and Fort Shafter with Headquarters , United States Army Pacific . He has taught at the U . S . Military Academy ’ s Department of English . During duty with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bliss , Texas , he served as the regimental adjutant and as the executive officer of its 1st Squadron . Shinseki ’ s ten - plus years of service in Europe included assignments as Commander , 3rd Squadron , 7th Cavalry , 3rd Infantry Division ( Schweinfurt ) ; Commander , 2nd Brigade , 3rd Infantry Division ( Kitzingen ) ; Assistant Chief of Staff , G3 , 3rd Infantry Division ( Operations , Plans and Training ) ( Würzburg ) ; and Assistant Division Commander for Maneuver , 3rd Infantry Division ( Schweinfurt ) . The 3rd ID was organized at that time as a heavy mechanized division . He also served as Assistant Chief of Staff , G3 ( Operations , Plans , and Training ) , VII Corps ( Stuttgart ) . Shinseki served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Support , Allied Land Forces Southern Europe ( Verona ) , an element of the Allied Command Europe . From March 1994 to July 1995 , Shinseki commanded the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood , Texas . In July 1996 , he was promoted to lieutenant general and became Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans , United States Army . In June 1997 , Shinseki was appointed to the rank of general before assuming duties as Commanding General , Seventh United States Army ; Commander , Allied Land Forces Central Europe ; and Commander , NATO Stabilization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina . Shinseki became the Army ' s 28th Vice Chief of Staff on November 24 , 1998 , then became its 34th Chief of Staff on June 22 , 1999 . Shinseki retired on June 11 , 2003 at the end of his four - year term . His Farewell Memo contained some of his ideas regarding the future of the military . At that time , General Shinseki retired from the Army after 38 years of military service . , General Shinseki was the highest - ranked Asian American in the history of the United States . Additionally , as of 2004 , he is the highest - ranked Japanese American to have served in the United States Armed Forces . Army Chief of Staff . During his tenure as Army Chief of Staff , Shinseki initiated an innovative but controversial plan to make the Army more strategically deployable and mobile in urban terrain by creating Stryker Interim - Force Brigade Combat Teams . He conceived a long term strategic plan for the Army dubbed Objective Force , which included a program he designed , Future Combat Systems . One other controversial plan that Shinseki implemented was the wearing of the Black Beret for all Army personnel . Prior to Shinseki implementing this policy , only the United States Rangers could wear the black beret . When the black beret was given to all soldiers and officers , the Rangers moved to the tan beret . Shinseki publicly clashed with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during the planning of the war in Iraq over how many troops the United States would need to keep in Iraq for the postwar occupation of that country . As Army Chief of Staff , General Shinseki testified to the U . S . Senate Armed Services Committee that " something in the order of several hundred thousand soldiers " would probably be required for postwar Iraq . This was an estimate far higher than the figure being proposed by Secretary Rumsfeld in his invasion plan , and it was rejected in strong language by both Rumsfeld and his Deputy Secretary of Defense , Paul Wolfowitz , who was another chief planner of the invasion and occupation . From then on , Shinseki ' s influence on the Joint Chiefs of Staff reportedly waned . Critics of the Bush Administration alleged that Shinseki was forced into early retirement as Army Chief of staff because of his comments on troop levels ; however , his retirement was actually announced nearly a year before those comments . When the insurgency took hold in postwar Iraq , Shinseki ' s comments and their public rejection by the civilian leadership were often cited by those who felt the Bush administration deployed too few troops to Iraq . On November 15 , 2006 , in testimony before Congress , CENTCOM Commander Gen . John Abizaid said that General Shinseki had been correct that more troops were needed . Post - military career . Shinseki has served as a director for several corporations : Honeywell International and Ducommun , military contractors ; Grove Farm Corporation ; First Hawaiian Bank ; and Guardian Life Insurance Company of America . He is a member of the Advisory Boards at the Center for Public Leadership , John F . Kennedy School of Government , Harvard University , and to the U . S . Comptroller General . He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations , the Atlantic Council of the United States , and the Association of the United States Army . On December 7 , 2008 , then - President - elect Barack Obama announced at a press conference in Chicago that he would nominate Shinseki to become the Secretary of Veterans Affairs . He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on January 20 , 2009 , and sworn in the next day . Awards , decorations , and badges . Shinseki was awarded the following medals , ribbons , badges , and tabs : Family . Shinseki is married and has two children , Lori and Ken .