Behind The Shield Oakland McCulloch (Peacekeeping, Military Leadership and Food Banks) - Episode 1059
During his 23 year career in the Army, Oak McCulloch held numerous leadership positions in the Infantry and Armor branches. He assisted in disaster relief operations for Hurricane HUGO in Charleston, SC and Hurricane ANDREW in south Florida.
Oak's operational deployments include:
- Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia and Iraq as a General's Aide-de-Camp;
- Support operations in Bosnia as a Congressional Liaison Officer; and
- A peace keeping deployment to Kosovo as an Operations Officer.
He has also held instructor positions at the US Army Ordnance School, the US Army Command and General Staff College, the Australian Command and Staff College, University of South Alabama and Stetson University. His last position in the Army was a three-year tour as the Professor of Military Science at the University of South Alabama where he led the training and commissioning of Lieutenants and tripled the size of the program in his three-year tour.
LTC McCulloch retired from the Army in September 2009 and joined the staff at the Bay Area Food Bank as the Associate Director. He was also the Vice Chair for Military Affairs on the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Mobile Rotary International Club. LTC McCulloch left the food bank in December 2010 to become the Senior Military Science Instructor and recruiter for the Army ROTC program at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.
In his 9 years at Stetson, the program grew from 15 Cadets to over 100 Cadets. In October 2013, he became the Recruiting Operations Officer for the Eagle Battalion Army ROTC program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he has more than doubled the size of the program in 6 years. Cadet Command selected LTC McCulloch as the top recruiting officer, out of 274 recruiters, in 2019.
LTC McCulloch earned a Bachelor of Science degree in History from Northern Illinois University in 1987 and a Master of Military Arts and Science in History from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 2002. He received thirty-one military service awards including the Bronze Star, eight Meritorious Service Medals and the Humanitarian Service Medal.
Oakland McCulloch was born in Loudon, TN and raised in Kirkland, IL. After graduating from high school, he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point for two years. He then graduated from Northern Illinois University and received his commission as an Infantry Officer through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) in 1986.
Oak McCulloch married Kelly Smyth at Fort Sheridan, IL in 1987. They now live in Daytona Beach, FL and have two children, Oakland Vincent McCulloch and Caileigh Nicholson. They also have a granddaughter, Ryleigh Jade Nicholson, and two grandsons, Christopher Bryce Nicholson and Oakland Maverick McCulloch.