For the Reporter

Auburn’s Lt. Michael Ellison was selected as the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) Officer Instructor of the Year at a ceremony Dec. 12 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation on board Naval Air Station Pensacola (Fla.).

A 2001 graduate of Auburn Riverside High School, Ellison attended Pacific Lutheran University receiving his bachelor of arts in economics and political science in 2005. For the past two years, Ellison has been an instructor at the Center for Surface Combat Systems’ Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center, San Diego.

“It’s an honor to be nominated for this award,” Ellison said. “It’s been said that to teach is to fully understand. In any profession becoming an instructor completes the learning loop. Master your trade, understand how people really learn, and you will become a great instructor. It’s a reward in itself to be able to share my knowledge and lessons learned with the next generation of Junior Officers.”

Rear Adm. Mike White, commander, Naval Education and Training Command, said that winning Officer Instructor of the Year award is quite a feat.

“Our Sailors, staff and instructors display hard work and dedication to perfecting their craft; they are preparing the next generation of warfighters. They are truly the best of the best,” White said.

Ellison is set to receive his MBA from the University of San Diego in 2015. He looks forward to transferring what he’s learned in the Navy to the corporate world after transitioning to the Reserves.

The NETC Sailor of the Year and Instructor of the Year programs recognize Sailors throughout the NETC domain who exhibit sustained superior performance, leadership, mentorship, knowledge, and teaching of military history and heritage, self-improvement, command and community involvement, and exemplary military bearing among other attributes.