Photos

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Official websites use .mil

A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.

Secure .mil websites use HTTPS

A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Cpl. Shane Cook, of Tuscola, Illinois, and Spc. Theordore Allen, of Lincoln, Illinois, both with Company C, 634th Brigade Support Battalion, perform a water test during the Region IV Phillip A. Connelly competition Aug. 4, 2020, at Marseilles Training Center for Company D, 634th Brigade Support Battalion, based in Galva, Illinois.

Share

Michael Zerbonia, Jr. (#26) played running back for the Mark Twain High School Tigers in Hannibal, Missouri. Zerbonia, Assistant Adjutant General – Army of the Illinois National Guard and Commander of the Illinois Army National Guard, will retire at the end of July after serving nearly four decades in the U.S. Army and Illinois Army National Guard.

Share

A high school yearbook photo of Michael R. Zerbonia, Jr. Major General Zerbonia, who has served almost four decades in the U.S. Army and Illinois Army National Guard, will retire at the end of July.

Share

Major General Michael Zerbonia, Assistant Adjutant General – Army of the Illinois National Guard and Commander of the Illinois Army National Guard addresses assembled guests at the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team change of command in 2017. Zerbonia, who has served in the U.S. Army and Illinois Army National Guard for nearly 40 years, will retire at the end of July.

Share

Major General Michael Zerbonia, the Assistant Adjutant General – Army of the Illinois National Guard and Commander of the Illinois Army National Guard, shares memories of Colonel Gerald Newman of Dixon, Illinois, with Newman’s friends and family during a retirement ceremony held Dec. 5, 2020 at the Dixon armory. Zerbonia will retire from the Illinois Army National Guard at the end of July.

Share

LaSalle County, Illinois, leaders watch a capabilities demonstration at the upgraded Automated Record Fire Range at the Marseilles Training Center in Marseilles, Illinois, July 23. The $4.6 million federally-funded project updated the target systems and expanded the ARF by 10 firing positions.

Share

A Soldier in the Illinois Army National Guard demonstrates the Automated Record Fire Range at the Marseilles Training Center in Marseilles, Illinois, during a dedication event and capabilities demonstration, July 23. The $4.6 million federally-funded project updated the target systems and expanded the ARF by 10 firing positions.

Share

LaSalle County, Illinois, leaders joined leaders of the Illinois National Guard for the official dedication of the Automated Record Fire Range at the Marseilles Training Center in Marseilles, Illinois, July 23. The $4.6 million federally-funded project updated the target systems and expanded the ARF by 10 firing positions.

Share

Fahim Masoud, second from right, graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Among those in attendance was retired Iowa Army National Guard CW3 James Ditter, right. Ditter sponsored Masoud to the United States on a student visa.

Share

2nd Lt. Fahim Masoud, of Stafford, Virginia, Company D, 766th Brigade Engineer Battalion, based in Bloomington, Illinois, was among members of the Illinois National Guard activated to assist local health departments at mass vaccination sites. Masoud serves as the Officer-in-Charge of the mass vaccination site in Matteson, Illinois.

Share

While serving as an interpreter for the U.S. military, Fahim Masoud (center), went on several missions with senior U.S. Army officers for meetings with local Afghanistan officials.

Share

Fahim Masoud on a mission to Qala e Naw, in the Badghis Province in northeast Afghanistan. Masoud, now a second lieutenant in the Illinois Army National Guard, served as an interpreter for the U.S. military before coming to the United States on a student visa.

Share

October 1989, Potosi Bolivia, Lawson participated in a medical readiness exercise in support of Operation Restore Democracy, Lawson aids a small child needing care. Lawson says “this was the moment he decided to live his life as a Citizen Soldier.”

Share

In March 2021, Lawson recovers just two days after liver transplant surgery at MedStar/Georgetown Hospital, District of Columbia

Share

In August 2002, Lawson was the commander of troops during the farewell ceremony of Task Force Santa Fa support of Security operations US Army and Air Force Europe at Heidelberg Barracks in Heidelberg Germany in response to the Twin Towers attack, New York City. It was viewed as the largest single deployment of National Guard Soldiers since World War II at that time.

Share

In September 2016, Lawson leads a logistics symposium at Central Command Headquarters, Tampa Florida, with 13 countries from the Middle East, Gulf Coast countries, Levant and Central Asia to improve International Coalition interoperability in the Central Command area of responsibility.

Share

While deployed to Afghanistan, Lawson hosts a review of the Taliban complex attack at Forward Operating Base Ghazni on August 28, 2013 with former Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, former ISAF Commander and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, former 101st Airborne Commander and Army Chief of Staff James McConnell, Brigadier General Marek Sokolowski, former Task Force White Eagle Commander, 16th Mechanized Corps Commander, Polish Land Forces.

Share

Lawson retired in Arlington, Virginia in August 2019 beside his wife Heidi, friends and family. He received the Defense Superior Service Medal issued by the Secretary of Defense for National Guard Bureau joint planning support to the Department of Defense and the Army Polish Gold Cross from the Minister of Defense for Poland (Highest Polish Army Award for a foreign service member), the Polish minister of defense sent Major General Marek Sokolowski, his former commander during the Aug. 28 2013, Taliban defeat at Forward Operating Base Ghazni, Afghanistan. Lawson would later receive the Distinguished Service Medal from the Secretary of the Army and the Illinois National Guard Distinguished Service Medal awarded by Maj. Gen. Rich Neely, the Adjutant General of Illinois and Commander of the Illinois National Guard.

Share

Illinois Army National Guard Lt. Col. Michael Legler (right), of Pekin, Illinois, receives the Meritorious Service Medal from Maj. Gen. Michael Zerbonia, of Chatham, Illinois, Assistant Adjutant General – Army, during his retirement ceremony April 30 at the Illinois Military Academy, Camp Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois.

Share

Illinois Army National Guard Lt. Col. Michael Legler, of Pekin, Illinois, thanks friends and family for their support throughout his military service during his retirement ceremony April 30 at the Illinois Military Academy, Camp Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois. Legler retired with more than 33 years of military service, including 28 years in the National Guard.

Share