“We are in this life to succeed. And in order to succeed, people will help us along the way, and you repay them in some form or fashion, but then you also pay it forward.”
- Retired Major General Antonio Taguba
Retired Major General Antonio Taguba
Biography
MG Tony Taguba retired on January 1, 2007 having served 34 years on Active Duty.
He is President, TDLS Consulting LLC, which provides business consulting services to small companies – disabled veteran owned and economically disadvantaged. He is the Chairman, Pan Pacific American Leaders and Mentors (PPALM), a national, all volunteer, nonprofit, 501(c)3 tax exempt organization committed to mentoring and professional development of military and civilian leaders. He served as Vice President for Army Account, SERCO Inc., a leading global services company from July 2007 to Nov 2008. As a community service advocate, he provides assistance to Veterans with their benefits issues, help raise funds for college scholarships, and as a volunteer to the United Services Organization (USO).
Born in Manila, Philippines on October 31, 1950, MG Taguba was commissioned as an Armor officer following his graduation from Idaho State University in 1972. He served in numerous command and staff positions from platoon to General Officer level. His service tours included assignments in the United States, South Korea, Germany, and Kuwait forward deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Selected for Brigadier General in 1997, he served as Chief of Staff, US Army Reserve Command, as Assistant Division Commander, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), and as Commanding General, US Army Community and Family Support Command. Major General Taguba was then assigned as Vice Director, later as Acting Director of the Army Staff, Pentagon—responsible for directing and coordinating the staff actions of the Army’s Executive Offices and Senior Staff directorates within Department of the Army, Department of Defense, Congress, and Interagency elements.
During Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was assigned as Deputy Commanding General for Support, Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC)/ARCENT/Third US Army, forward deployed to Kuwait. He was responsible for overseeing the logistical and support services to US and Coalition Forces totaling over 150,000 troops conducting combat operations in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. His duty included coordination of host nation support from the Government of Kuwait, and security cooperation and training requirements with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar.
Upon his redeployment, he was assigned as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (Readiness, Training and Mobilization), Office of the Secretary of Defense, Pentagon. He was later assigned as Deputy Commanding General for Transformation, U.S. Army Reserve Command in his final assignment on active duty.
His numerous military awards include the Army Distinguished Service Medal (2 awards), the Legion of Merit (4 awards), the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (6 awards), the Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
He received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of San Francisco on May 17, 2008. He was appointed a Senior Fellow to New Westminster College, British Columbia, Canada on June 21, 2013.
He is a graduate of Idaho State University with a BA Degree in History, Webster University with a MA Degree in Public Administration, Salve Regina University with a MA Degree in International Relations, US College of Naval Command and Staff with a MA Degree in National Security & Strategic Studies, US Army Command and General Staff College, and US Army War College.
He is married to Debra Ann Taguba. They are proud parents of two adult children, Lindsay, the Central Services Director of Newspring Church in South Carolina, and Sean, a US Army Captain who has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP), is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, community-based, all-volunteer national initiative whose mission is to obtain national recognition of Filipino and American WWII soldiers across the United States and the Philippines for their wartime service to the U.S. and the Philippines from July 26, 1941 to December 31, 1946.