Libutti was promoted to major in May 1977 and reassigned as the Executive Officer for Marine Barracks, Naples, Italy. In August 1980, he attended the Command and Staff College at Quantico, then transferred to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C., for duty as the Head of the Career Management Section, Manpower Department. In May 1982, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and reassigned as the Assistant Secretary of the General Staff for the Office of the Assistant Commandant and Chief of Staff, where he served through May 1983. He was reassigned in June 1983 as the Senior Marine Aide to the Commandant of the Marine Corps.