Vito Centofanti enrolled at Marquette and NROTC in 1979. He graduated with a B.S. degree in Business Administration in 1983, and was commissioned a Marine Corps 2d Lt. His initial duty was with the 2d Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, N.C. As a 1st Lieutenant, he was given command of a company. Centofanti next reported to the Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Milwaukee as Operations Officer, then Executive Officer. He left active duty in 1990 and joined the Marine Reserves. He became an Account Executive with AT&T, and has spent the last 25 years in the telecommunications industry, while advancing in the Marine Corps Reserves. He is now President of Sales for Strategic Telecom Solutions, and lives in Eagle, Wisconsin.
While in the Reserves, Colonel Centofanti served as Executive and Commanding Officer of Fox Company, 2d Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment in Milwaukee. He was activated in late 1994 to lead 275 Marines from the 24th Marines in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in relief of Haitian and Cuban refugees. Later, Colonel Centofanti participated in counter-drug operations missions in the Caribbean, Central America and the Southwestern U.S.
Colonel Centofanti was appointed Operations Officer for the 2d Battalion, 24th Marines, and Assistant Operations Officer for the 24th Regiment. He was Military Readiness Advisor to the Navy Mobile Construction Force –the Seabees. He also led a Peacetime-Wartime Support Team to execute the Marine Forces Readiness Support Program.
He joined the effort in 1988 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Marquette NROTC Unit in 1990. Then the Alumni Association disbanded, leaving only Colonel Centofanti in charge until the Association re-formed in 2009. Colonel Centofanti single-handedly operated the Marquette Seapower Library Association from 1990 to 2014, in support of Midshipman special activities. There is no one more dedicated to the Unit than Col. Centofanti.