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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Major General Michael | ||||||
| 4 | Zerbonia on the occasion of his retirement from the Illinois | ||||||
| 5 | National Guard on July 31, 2021, after 38 years of military | ||||||
| 6 | service; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, General Zerbonia received his Bachelor of Science | ||||||
| 8 | in Criminal Justice from Northeast Missouri State University; | ||||||
| 9 | he earned his Master of Arts in Strategic Studies from the U.S. | ||||||
| 10 | Army War College; his military education also includes the Air | ||||||
| 11 | Defense Artillery Officer Basic Course, Air Defense Artillery | ||||||
| 12 | Officer Advanced Course, Combined Arms Service and Staff | ||||||
| 13 | School, Command and General Staff College, Defense Strategy | ||||||
| 14 | Course, and Dual Status Commander's Course; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, General Zerbonia originally enlisted as a | ||||||
| 16 | military policeman in the Missouri Army National Guard in | ||||||
| 17 | 1983; after completing the Reserve Officer Training Corps | ||||||
| 18 | program at Northeast Missouri State University, he was | ||||||
| 19 | commissioned as a second lieutenant on May 9, 1986; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, General Zerbonia transferred to the active Army | ||||||
| 21 | as an air defense artillery officer in 1988; he joined the | ||||||
| 22 | Illinois National Guard as the assistant air defense | ||||||
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| 1 | coordination officer with the 1st Battalion, 202nd Air Defense | ||||||
| 2 | Artillery Regiment in 1991; and
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| 3 | WHEREAS, General Zerbonia has served in critical roles at | ||||||
| 4 | all levels of command and staff, including serving as | ||||||
| 5 | commander of the Bilateral Embedded Staff Team A10 and as the | ||||||
| 6 | deputy brigade commander for the Polish 12th Mechanized | ||||||
| 7 | Brigade in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Ghazni | ||||||
| 8 | Province, Afghanistan; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, General Zerbonia supported military operations in | ||||||
| 10 | Poland, Turkey, and Germany; he was deployed to Iraq in | ||||||
| 11 | support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from June 2005 to June 2006 | ||||||
| 12 | and to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom | ||||||
| 13 | from October 2012 to May 2013; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, General Zerbonia has served as the assistant | ||||||
| 15 | adjutant general since October 1, 2015; he is the principal | ||||||
| 16 | assistant in all matters pertaining to the supervision and | ||||||
| 17 | management of the Illinois Department of Military Affairs and | ||||||
| 18 | the Illinois Army National Guard, which consists of 10,000 | ||||||
| 19 | citizen-soldiers; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, General Zerbonia has received a number of awards | ||||||
| 21 | and decorations, including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze | ||||||
| 22 | Star (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), the Meritorious Service Medal (2 | ||||||
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| 1 | Oak Leaf Clusters), the Army Commendation Medal (3 Oak Leaf | ||||||
| 2 | Clusters), the Army Achievement Medal (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), | ||||||
| 3 | the National Defense Ribbon, the Army Reserve Component | ||||||
| 4 | Achievement Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Combat Action | ||||||
| 5 | Badge, and the Bronze Medal of the Polish Armed Forces; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, General Zerbonia has spent his military career | ||||||
| 7 | protecting and serving the State of Illinois and our country; | ||||||
| 8 | therefore, be it
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| 9 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 10 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 11 | we congratulate Major General Michael Zerbonia on his | ||||||
| 12 | retirement from the Illinois National Guard and thank him for | ||||||
| 13 | his service to the country over the past 38 years; and be it | ||||||
| 14 | further
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| 15 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 16 | presented to General Zerbonia as an expression of our esteem | ||||||
| 17 | and respect.
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