Education
Chirkin studied at the Kazan Suvorov Military School from 1971 to 1974 and the Konev Higher Joint Command School in Alma Ata from 1974–1978.
Chirkin studied at the Kazan Suvorov Military School from 1971 to 1974 and the Konev Higher Joint Command School in Alma Ata from 1974–1978.
He entered military service in 1978. From 1978 to 1983, he served with Soviet forces in Germany. He also served in the Baltic region, the Russian Far East, and the North Caucasus before becoming deputy commander of the Moscow Military District in 2007.
He then served as Commander of the Central Military District beginning in December 2010 before being named commander of Ground Forces.
His other military education includes the Frunze Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1988 and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia which he graduate from in 2000. In December 2013, Chirkin was removed as the commander of the Russian Ground Forces by Vladimir Putin for bribery charges.
Subsequently (August 2015), he was sentenced to five years in a labor colony. He was also stripped of his military rank of "colonel-general" and most of his state awards.
In December 2015, this sentence was canceled by a higher court.
His awards include the Order "Foreign Service Before the Fatherland," Fourth Class (Орден «За заслуги перед Отечеством» IV степени), The Order of Bravery (Oрден Мужества), the Order "Foreign Military Service" («За военные заслуги»), and the Order "Foreign Service to the Mother Land in the Armed Forces of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics," third class (Орден «За службу Родине в Вооружённых Силах СССР» III степени), as well as other medals.