General of the Army Anatoly Vasiliyevich Kvashnin (; born 15 august 1946, Ufa) was the Chief of the Russian General Staff from 1997 to 2004, when he was dismissed by President Vladimir Putin. Kvashnin graduated from the Kurgan Machine-building Institute in 1969 and served in the armed forces from this time. He began serving in the military as deputy commander of a tank company then moved on to hold various command and staff positions. He later attended the R.Y. Malinovsky Tank Academy graduating in 1976 and from the USSR armed Forces General Staff Military Academy in 1989. He holds a candidate degree in sociological sciences, a doctorate in military sciences and is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Science. Kvashnin had previously served as commander of