General Digilio grew up in Bay Shore, NY, graduating from Bay Shore High School, and earned BA and MBA degrees. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1967 from LaSalle University's artillery ROTC program; entered active duty in 1969 and served as Executive Officer and Detachment Commander, US Army Hospital, Sierra Army Depot, Herlong, CA. In 1970, he was transferred to the 95th Evacuation Hospital, DaNang, Republic of Viet Nam.
Shortly after his return from Viet Nam, he joined the New York Army National Guard. He has held numerous command and staff positions including Commander, 244th Medical Group, a Contingency Force Pool unit under the 44th Medical Brigade (Airborne), XVIII Airborne Corps (Fort Bragg, NC). In July 1997, Digilio lead a team of military and civilian experts to Montevideo, Uruguay to train that country’s senior civilian and military personnel on the health aspects of natural and man-made disaster preparedness.
General Digilio is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, the Command and General Staff College, and the National Security Management Program and the Reserve Component National Security Course of the National Defense University. Has been awarded over 24 decorations, including the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Unit Citation, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm, and the New York Army National Guard Conspicuous Service Medal.
He is the first member of the New York Army National Guard to be inducted into the Order of Military Medical Merit, U.S. Army Medical Department; the first recipient of the Colonel Gouverneur Morris Citizen Soldier Award presented by the Adjutant General of the State of New York. In 1997, he received the prestigious Joel T. Boone Award presented by the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS). He was invested into the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (Knight Templars) and holds the dignity of Grand Croix (GCTJ) and is prior of the Priory of St. Patrick in the Hudson Valley. He is listed in Who’s Who in America.
He was the national commander of La Sociétè des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux(Forty and Eight) in 2003; a past commander, Bay Shore American Legion Post #365, a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Military Order of the Cooties.
General Digilio is married to the former Dianne Pilgrim, of Delhi, NY and they reside in Bay Shore, NY. In the civilian sector, Digilio is the administrator of the Bishop C.W. MacLean Nursing Home, Far Rockaway, NY.
His numerous community activities include being a past chairman of the Board of Directors, Long Island Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation; a trustee of the Childrens Leukemia Research Association; and a past first vice president of the Brightwaters Lions Club and the Bay Shore Lions Club.
