Colonel James Reynolds hails from Wakefield, RI and was inspired to join the Marine Corps after the events of September 11th, 2001. He quit his job programming video games for Nintendo gaming systems and reported to OCS in January 2002. During his first year in the Corps, he completed Officer Candidates School, The Basic School, and Infantry Officer Course. From 2003 to mid-2006, he completed the aviation-training pipeline and was assigned to VMFA-212 in Iwakuni, Japan. In 2008, VMFA-212 was put in cadre status and he was assigned VMFA(AW)-242. In the summer of 2008, Colonel Reynolds joined Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I) as an individual augment.
In 2009 Colonel Reynolds joined 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion in Okinawa Japan and served as both the Battalion Air Officer and Headquarters and Service (H&S) Company commander. In 2011, he started the Modeling of Virtual Environments and Simulation curriculum at the Naval Postgraduate School. His payback tour was split between Training and Education Command (TECOM) and Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC). During this period, he authored the Marine Corps’ 2014 Modeling and Simulation Strategic Master Plan.
In the summer of 2016, he laterally moved into the aviation acquisition community. Colonel Reynolds worked as a level 1 for PMA 201, supporting the fielding of the Small Diameter Bomb 2 (SDB-2), as the lead for the VH-92A program at PMA-274, where he helped IOC the aircraft in 2021, and at the F-35 Joint Program Office where he stood up the Power and Thermal Management Modernization program, a congressionally mandated major subprogram.
Colonel Reynolds holds a Bachelor of Art in Art, a Master of Science in Computer Science, a Master of Science in Modeling and Simulations, and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy. He received the Outstanding Student Award for superior performance during Aviation Preflight Indoctrination. He graduated from Naval Post Graduate School with a perfect GPA and four awards for academic performance and leadership. Colonel Reynolds graduated with distinction from National Defense University. He was part of the 2014 Secretary of the Navy Innovation Excellence Acquisition Team of the year. He received the LtGen Michael A. Hough award for Acquisition Excellence in Marine Aviation. He lives in Leonardtown MD with his bride, the brilliant and beautiful Neda Reynolds, and their four spirited children who fill up all their free time.