Robert Shadley

Biography

General Robert Shadley was born in Circleville, Ohio on August 5th, 1942. He graduated from Purdue University and was commissioned as an ordnance officer in 1965. Up till 1990 General Shadley held many positions such as commander, executive officer, and advisor. During this time he also attended many different schools. He completed the ordnance officer advanced course, the long armor infantry course, the command and staff college, and the United States Army War College. In 1990, General Shadley became a commander of the First Infantry Division Support Command at Fort Riley. During his command he deployed to Desert Shield and Desert Storm. There were 22,000 personnel under his command that supported the division, as they traveled 250 kilometers in four days. He was the executive officer to the commanding general in the United States Army Material Command from 1992 through 1994. He then became the director of logistics for the United States Atlantic Command. Shadley provided relief efforts to Haiti, Cuba and Europe during the disasters that occurred there during this time period. General Shadley served as Chief of Ordnance and Commanding General of the Ordnance Center and School from 1995 through 1997. While under his command, the Ordnance Corp created a new Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit and made several changes and advances throughout the Ordnance Corp. General Shadley finished his army career serving in the Army’s largest major command as Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics for United States Army Forces Command. This organization was comprised of 800,000 soldiers and 40,000 civilians. He was able to save the army eighty-four million dollars by cutting excess property and through an innovative contract program that was eventually used throughout the army. Following this assignment Shadley retired from the army as a Major General in 2000 after 35 years of service. General Shadley was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in both Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm/Shield. General Shadley was also awarded three Legion of Merits, and the Defense Superior Service Medal.  In 2000, he was awarded the highest peacetime award given in our nation, the Distinguished Service Medal. He was also inducted into the Purdue ROTC Hall of Fame in 1996 and the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame in 2003. As a civilian he started working at Alliant Techsystems in 2000 and by 2003 he became the senior vice president of Business Development.

References
Major General Robert D. Shadley. "Ordnance Corp Hall of Fame: 2003 Contemporary."
Robert D. Shadley. "Purdue University: Our People."

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