Ivan Shkadov

Born in the village of Naumovo, Kaluga Governorate, on 2 May 1913, Shkadov was drafted into the Red Army in October 1935 and sent to study at the Kharkov Tank School. After graduating in June 1938, he served in the 2nd Separate Tank Brigade (later the 42nd Separate Light Tank Brigade) of the 1st Separate Red Banner Army as a platoon commander of the 2nd Separate Tank Battalion, a deputy tank company commander, assistant chief of staff of the 136th Separate Tank Battalion, and chief of staff of the 216th Separate Flamethrower Tank Battalion. He fought in the Battle of Lake Khasan. In April 1941 he became senior adjutant of the 4th Flamethrower Tank Battalion of the 109th Tank Regiment of the 58th Tank Division of the 2nd Red Banner Army.[1]

After Operation Barbarossa began, Shkadov was sent to the front and on 16 July became assistant chief of staff for reconnaissance of the 216th Tank Regiment of the 108th Tank Division. He fought on the Bryansk and Western Fronts as part of the 50th Army, including in the Battle of Moscow. In December 1941 he became a company commander in a heavy tank regiment, and in January 1942 commander of the 257th Tank Battalion of the 108th Separate Tank Brigade, formed from the 108th Tank Division. From March he fought with the brigade on the Western Front south of Yukhnov, but was severely wounded in April and evacuated to a hospital. After recovering, Shkadov became commander of the 350th Separate Tank Battalion of the 169th Tank Brigade in June. As part of the 13th Tank Corps, the brigade fought in the Battle of Stalingrad. From November he commanded the 52nd Separate Tank Regiment, part of the 2nd Guards Army of the Stalingrad Front and then the Southern Front from January 1943.[1]

In late March the regiment was withdrawn to the Tula Tank Camp for rebuilding, and after returning to the front fought in the Battle of the Dnieper, the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive, and the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. From 17 November 1944 Shkadov commanded the 96th Separate Tank Brigade, which on 24 November became part of the 37th Army, garrisoned in Bulgaria.[1]

After the end of the war, Shkadov continued to command the brigade, which became the 96th Army Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment in July 1945, then served as commander of the 89th Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment and deputy commander of the 25th Guards Mechanized Division. After graduating from Academic Courses for Technical Improvement at the Military Academy of Armored and Mechanized Forces, Shkadov took command of the 8th Guards Tank Division of the Belorussian Military District in November 1953. Sent to study at the Military Academy of the General Staff in November 1957, he graduated from Higher Academic Courses and the special faculty there in 1958 and 1959.[1]

In September 1959, Shkadov was appointed first deputy commander-in-chief of the 6th Guards Tank Army of the Kiev Military District. In March 1961 he was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the forces of the Carpathian Military District for combat training and higher educational institutions and simultaneous chief of the district combat training directorate. Serving as a chief of Soviet military advisers in Cuba between February 1964 and March 1967 and deputy commander for combat training of the Group of Soviet Forces in Cuba, Shkadov became commander of the Northern Group of Forces in May 1967. A succession of senior posts followed for Shkadov, as he became first deputy chief of the Military Academy of the General Staff in December 1968, chief of the Main Directorate of Higher Educational Institutions in July 1969, and chief of the Main Personnel Directorate in August 1972. Promoted to army general on 29 April 1975, Shkadov was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on 21 February 1978 for his actions in World War II. In his capacity as chief of the Main Personnel Directorate, he became a deputy minister of defense in February 1982. Shkadov was transferred to the Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense, a retirement post for senior officers, in February 1987. In the 1980s he was chairman of the editorial board for a biographical dictionary of Heroes of the Soviet Union. Shkadov died when he was struck by a car on 15 February 1991 in Moscow and was buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.[1][2]

Shkadov was a recipient of the following decorations:[1]

• Hero of the Soviet Union
• Order of Lenin (3)
• Order of the October Revolution
• Order of the Red Banner (5)
• Order of Suvorov, 3rd class
• Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class
• Order of the Red Star (2)
• Foreign awards