Buies Creek, N.C.-For a third time, the Campbell University ROTC Battalion has been recognized by the Army’s Cadet Command and the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation with the prestigious MacArthur Award. Competing with 273 battalions nationwide, Campbell was one of eight battalions to receive the award. The MacArthur Award recognizes the best battalion in each of the nation’s eight U.S. Army ROTC brigades.
“I am very proud of what the cadets and cadre have accomplished,” said Lieutenant Colonel Milt Loffert, professor of Military Science at Campbell. “Every year the Campbell Battalion commissions an exceptional cohort of army officers to lead our nation’s soldiers. Our cadets run the daily operations and training at each company and the battalion as a whole. Being singled out as the best battalion within a brigade of 38 excellent battalions speaks volumes about the extraordinary talent, work ethic and personal commitment of our cadets and cadre.”
This year’s win was especially significant because formerly the MacArthur Award was given to three categories within a brigade based on battalion size: small, medium and large. The categories were eliminated this year and only one program from each brigade was recognized for the award. Campbell won this year’s award for the entire 4th Brigade, the higher headquarters of the Campbell Battalion, which includes programs in Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Virginia, and the Carolinas.
“The award recognizes the individual units within the Army ROTC program that have achieved the standards that best represent the watch words of duty, honor and country as practiced by General MacArthur,” said Colonel William Davis, executive director of the MacArthur Foundation.
In 1989, Campbell won the award for the best medium size program in the 4th Brigade and in 1999 for the best large program in the brigade. This year’s award was accepted by Colonel Ron Elrod, the commander of 4th Brigade, at the Winter Commanders Conference at Fort Monroe, Virginia.
Established in 1971, the Campbell University ROTC Battalion has consistently out-performed other units both regionally and nationally. From 2004 to present, the battalion was ranked in the top 15 percent out of 273 ROTC programs in the nation by the U.S. Army Cadet Command. The Campbell Battalion includes cadres at Methodist University, Fayetteville State University and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.