OFA Teacher Headed To Afganistan

A teacher at Owego Free Academy has left the classroom to head back to Afghanistan this week. Mike Oddo is a technology education teacher at OFA, but he also serves as Command Sergeant Major of the 365th Engineer Battalion of the United State Army Reserves. Oddo will be serving a one-year tour in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, where he says his battalion provides mission command of multiple engineer companies in support of both shaping and maintaining stability and civil support in Afghanistan. He recently left Camp Shelby, Mississippi to head overseas. Oddo originally entered active military service in the U.S. Army in June of 1978 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He served as a Combat Engineer with the 43rd Engineer Company, 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment at Fort Bliss, Texas. He received an honorable discharge in 1983, and after receiving his degrees from SUNY Oswego and Plattsburgh, he enlisted in the reserves in 1989.