Monken is a former U.S. Army captain. As a tank platoon leader, he organized more than 100 combat missions in Iraq without losing any soldiers.
"I think John is the kind of a leader that the men and women of the Illinois state police can look up to. He has fortitude in a great capacity, and we know everyone in the state police has those characteristics," Quinn said.
Monken graduated from West Point in the top 1 percent of his military class rank.
