Anthony C. “Tony” Zinni joined the Marine Corps in 1961 and was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant in 1965 upon his graduation from Villanova University. His distinguished 39-year military career has taken him to more than 70 countries and included numerous command assignments at the platoon, company, battalion, regimental, Marine expeditionary unit, and Marine expeditionary force command levels. General Zinni’s joint assignments included command of a joint task force and a unified command. His final tour of duty was from August 1997 to September 2000 as the Commander in Chief, United States Central Command. Since his retirement from the United States Marine Corps in 2000, Zinni has continued to serve his country in numerous diplomatic positions, to include the U.S. Peace Envoy in the Middle East and the Special Envoy to the Henri Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (Indonesian, Philippines, & Sudan peace effort).
