For the second year in a row, a faculty member with the Eastern Washington University Army ROTC “Fighting Eagles” battalion has been honored with a U.S. Army Cadet Command Instructor of the Year Award. Maj. Nicholas Carbaugh was recognized for the 2020 award out of all 274 ROTC units across the country.
Carbaugh is a finance graduate from Virginia Tech who serves in the Field Artillery branch. As a teacher at Eastern for the past two years, he currently serves as the lead instructor for third-year cadets preparing to attend Advanced Camp training. EWU cadets have earned above average Advanced Camp scores under Carbaugh’s instruction, according to battalion leadership.
Carbaugh also represents the Department of Military Science as its representative on the Academic Senate. As a senator, he is responsible for helping to formulate university policy and developing recommendations to be acted on by the Board of Trustees. In the local community, Carbaugh was elected treasurer of the Montessori School Board where he is responsible for advising on how the school spends its budget.
“Maj. Carbaugh is clearly not only an outstanding instructor, but an important part of the university and the community,” writes Lt. Col. Jonathan Stafford, chair of the ROTC program, in an article on the EWU Army ROTC website.
Carbaugh’s award follows the Non-Commissioned Officer Instructor of the Year Award given to then Sgt. 1st Class Jason Henning in 2019. EWU Army ROTC is the only program in the nation that has won a total of three national Cadet Command awards for excellence in the past two years. Also in 2019, Human Resources Administrator Linda Moody won the award for the Top Cadet Command HRA.
