From the moment he strode into the Pentagon briefing room, Gen. John Shalikashvili was in charge.
Gracious and well-spoken, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff gave the impression of a man eager to wrestle with the toughest problems Washington and the world can throw at him.The North Koreans? No problem.
The Russians? Not to worry.
Pentagon budget cuts? We can work it out.
It was welcome news to a Pentagon beset with budget-slashing, job cuts and the uncertainties of the military's role in the post-Cold War era.
In his first formal news conference Tuesday as the nation's top military officer, Shalikashvili (pronounced shah-lee-kahsh-VEE'-lee) said he had been kept busier than he had expected during his first two months in office, given the problems in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, North Korea and Russia.
Not to mention that he's trying to manage the drawdown of hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the 1.7 million in uniform while "making sure we don't just get smaller, but that we also get better."
During his half-hour appearance, Shalikashvili deftly fielded questions on a range of thorny issues.
Does the possibility of a North Korean invasion of the South worry him?
"No one has yet suggested that we would not be able to stop the North Koreans," he said. "I am very comfortable" with the allied defensive capabilities in the region.
Asked what options the U.S. military options would have should North Korea obtain a nuclear weapon, Shalikashvili said:
"I know that you do not seriously want me to discuss any planning that we do on this or any other options. I would hope that this building does not get caught short if we are ever asked to do something, and I feel confident that we won't be."
Do the Russian elections mean changes in U.S. military strategy?
The Polish-born general said it was too soon to comment on the resurgence of opponents to Boris Yeltsin or remarks made by one ultranationalist about a potential division of Poland between Russia and Germany. But he cautioned against being swayed by "election rhetoric and emotionalism."
Shalikashvili replaces Gen. Colin Powell, whose popularity soared after his Desert Storm briefings. The four-star Army general served as an aide to Powell and seemed aware of the importance of a spit-and-polish performance before the television cameras.