Ask Trooper Antonio Carbajal about winning a statewide award for excelling in his law enforcement studies, or about the slew of honors he racked up at the Criminal Justice Academy and Patrol School, and the 23-year-old rookie trooper’s response will be one of humility.

“It’s great to be honored for this, but I want to be honored truly for being a good trooper. That’s where my mindset is,” he said. “If I won all the awards at the Academy but didn’t prove myself as a trooper, it would be for nothing.”

Carbajal, who is assigned to Abbeville and Greenwood counties in the Highway Patrol’s Troop 2, accepted The Forty and Eight’s Cadet Officer of the Year Award during a weekend ceremony in Goose Creek. The Forty and Eight is an honor society of American veterans and service members dedicated to serving those who serve in the armed forces and law enforcement. The annual award recognizes one officer who has recently graduated from the Criminal Justice Academy and continued into a law enforcement career.

“We want to encourage them by showing them the hard work they have done is appreciated,” said Ernest Hill, Awards Director for The Forty and Eight’s South Carolina chapter.

Hill praised Carbajal’s nomination submitted by Major Florence McCants, who nominated him on behalf of the SC Criminal Justice Academy.

“We thought he excelled not only in his academics, but he did well in his proficiency, and his personality shows that he is a future leader in law enforcement,” she said.

At the graduation for SCCJA Basic 777, Carbajal won the J.P. Strom Award, the Clifford A. Moyer Marksmanship Award and the Director’s Physical Fitness Award. Rarely does an officer win all three, McCants said.

“That goes to show his dedication and his commitment to what he’s trying to obtain in law enforcement,” she said. “You’ve got some who just put enough effort in to get through. But those who actually put their all into it, you can spot those from the very beginning.”

After the Academy, Carbajal went on to Patrol School. At graduation for Highway Patrol Basic Class 122, he won the Major Israel Brooks Jr. Physical Fitness Award and the Colonel P.F. Thompson Outstanding Achievement Award. Carbajal is flattered but says he came to the Highway Patrol to serve his community, not to rack up plaques.

“I was blown away,” he said of the recognitions. “It wasn’t my goal to set out to win anything. I just wanted to do the best I could.”

Newly married and with a baby girl on the way, Carbajal said he is focused on serving the residents and visitors of South Carolina — and getting home safely at the end of a shift.

“It’s a sense of accomplishment almost every day,” he said. “It helps you sleep better when you actually do something that matters. That’s what I enjoy about it most.”

Captain Joseph Morf, Commander of Troop 2, where Carbajal serves, described him as “a good young man.”

“He’s got the world of potential,” Morf said. “Just really polite and friendly. Anytime one of our troopers can be recognized for their accomplishments, it’s a positive reflection on Troop 2 as a whole.”

Carbajal’s honors come on the heels of his fellow Troop 2 colleague, Trooper First Class Adam Piszczatoski, winning the Highway Patrol’s Trooper of the Year award in March 2023. Morf said these honors reflect the quality of candidates coming into the agency.

“These young guys are so new in their careers, but these are the future leaders of the Highway Patrol,” he said. “To have people like this in an organization, it gives me a lot of hope for the future."

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