PENSACOLA, Fla. - U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Phillip Haly, a Daleville, VA native, accepted the 2025 Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Military Instructor of the Year award on Feb. 19 for his work as a U.S. Marine Corps Instructor while assigned to the NROTC Unit Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA.
Haly was selected by Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) as a top instructor among nearly 7,500 other accomplished individuals serving across the domain, from Navy Boot Camp through the Navy’s advanced training centers and schoolhouses. Haly received the award at the instructor of the year ceremony Feb. 19 where Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, commander of NETC, spoke on his achievements as a military instructor.
“Our Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps Instructor of the Year, Marine Corps Capt. Phillip Haly, invests his time and energy in every one of his students as an instructor at VMI [Virginia Military Institute], earning the call sign ‘Full Throttle’ for the way he approaches leadership,” said Huffman. “A husband, father, and martial arts instructor, he forges midshipmen into Marine Corps Officers who can thrive under pressure.”
Haly is honored by the many Marines he has served alongside. It is the teamwork mentality of the Marine Corps that keeps him motivated. He shares this sentiment by saying “My proudest accomplishment is the teams that I have had the privilege to serve alongside. We have accomplished amazing things together and I will always be indebted to my Marines.”
NETC, headquartered at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, is the largest shore command in the U.S. Navy. NETC leads the Navy’s “Street to Fleet” process – recruiting America’s sons and daughters and transforming them through world-class training into highly skilled, battle-ready warfighters. More than 87 percent of new Sailors flow through NETC’s schoolhouses and learning centers once they graduate boot camp – and on any given day, NETC is training 33,000 Sailors at its 251 training sites.