Tony Libri Biography Military Service

Tony Libri

Military Service

Colonel Tony Libri retired from the National Guard in 2011 after serving in the Army National Guard and U.S. Marines for more than 30 years. His tours of duty included Afghanistan, Alaska, Bosnia, Croatia, Hungary, Kuwait, Germany and Panama.

Tony’s last tour of duty included nine months in Afghanistan in 2009. Tony was in charge of training 18,000 new police officers and members of the Afghan Army.

From August 1997 to March 1998, Tony served a tour of duty in Bosnia as a commander of the 139^th and the 128^th M.P.A.D. His leadership during the conflict resulted in six medals, making Tony one of the most decorated soldiers in the Bosnian conflict from the Illinois Guard.

Tony entered the Marines as soon as he graduated from Springfield’s Lanphier High School in 1972. He returned home from his first tour of duty two years later when he was 19.

An injury forced him to leave the Marines. The injury required months of rehabilitation. In the meantime, he began working as a disc jockey and went back to school, receiving a bachelor’s degree in communications from Sangamon State University, now the University of Illinois at Springfield.

In 1980, while attending the Illinois State Fair, a local radio announcer suggested that Tony serve in the Illinois National Guard. He liked the idea, joined the guard and received a direct commission as an officer because of his education and previous military expertise.

Tony said he watched the Illinois National Guard go from being something people never thought of as a military organization to a ready and relevant force, able to answer the nation’s call in the event of disaster. “We used to be called weekend warriors," he said. "Now the Guard is considered a major component of our fighting force.”

Colonel Libri has been awarded more than 35 military decorations that include: