Florida Board names road after former Nellis pilot

Published: Sunday, May 13, 2012 

LAKE COUNTY, Fla.—The Lake County Commission  recently approved a resolution designating a portion of State Road 44 in Lake County, near Eustis, Fla., as “Captain Jim “Malibu” Reynolds Jr. Road.”

Family members, along with state and local government representatives, attended as the Florida Department of Transportation places the sign in the designated section of State Road 44 on Monday.

Reynolds, a decorated U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and long-time resident of Eustis, Fla., was killed when his F-16 crashed during a routine training mission on the Nellis Ranges (now-named Nevada Test and Training Range), Nev., Aug. 10, 1993.

Reynolds, the son of Mr. and Mrs. James H Reynolds Sr. of Eustis, was a member of the 414th Training Squadron (Red Flag) at Nellis and had been stationed in Las Vegas since 1991. He won a number of wing competitions, including the low-angle strafe, Top Gun for both the first and second halves of 1990, and the Overall Top Gun for January to June 1990.

In 1991, Reynolds was selected to join the Adversary Tactics Division of Red Flag at Nellis, where he served as a mission commander, an instructor pilot, and was a member of the Weapons and Tactics Branch.

His military decorations include the Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Combat Readiness Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal, among others.

The commission’s resolution comes on the heels of the Florida Legislature’s approval of House Bill 7039 during the 2012 Legislative Session, which allows for honorary designations of various transportation facilities in specified counties.

For more information, call (Florida) 1-352-343-9850.