Zaza Gogava ( ka, ზაზა გოგავა; born July 14, 1971) is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

. He served as a Chief of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Georgia from November 2006 to November 2008 and the chief of Border Police from November 2008 to July 2012. Gogava served his compulsory military service in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

motorized rifle units from 1989 to 1990. He was one of the first batch of Georgian conscripts to defect from the Soviet forces. He graduated from the Tbilisi State Technical University in 1994 and began his career in the special task group "Omega" within Georgia's security services in 1995. He has since served in various counter-terrorist units and special forces subdivisions, and was further trained in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

between 1995 and 2002. Gogava was placed in command of the Counter-terrorism Division of Special Operations Center in 2003 and the élite Police Special Tasks Division named after General G. Gulua in 2004. He was appointed Commander of

Georgian Special Operations Forces The Georgian Special Operations Forces (GSOF) ( ka, სპეციალური ოპერაციების ძალები) are the special operations forces component of the Defense Forces of Georgia. They have been established to ...

of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia in 2004 and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Georgia in 2006. After the reshuffle within the Ministry of Defense in November 2006, Gogava became the Chief of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Georgia. The Georgian President

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

replaced Gogava in November 2008, saying "shortcomings" during a war with Russia needed to be addressed. Gogava was appointed as chief of Border Police, replacing

Badri Bitsadze Badri Bitsadze ( ka, ბადრი ბიწაძე) (born 27 April 1960) is the former Chief of the Border Police of Georgia. He holds the rank of Lieutenant General, and previously held the posts of Chief Military Prosecutor, Deputy General ...

, who had earlier announced his resignation. Gogava served in this position until the reshuffle in the Interior Ministry top brass in July 2012.Reshuffle in Interior Ministry's Top Brass
''Civil Georgia''. July 8, 2012.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gogava, Zaza 1971 births Generals from Georgia (country) Generals of the Defense Forces of Georgia People of the Russo-Georgian War Living people Police officers from Georgia (country)