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When service members undergo readiness processing at Reynolds Army Health Clinic at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, they move through a system built to keep the force prepared — the same priority that defined the career of Maj. Gen. Charles Reynolds. The decorated doctor and soldier, with a military career spanning four decades, was the 25th surgeon general of the U.S. Army and the namesake the clinic bears today.

Reynolds shaped U.S. Army medicine through leadership focused on modernization, training, and rapid mobilization for war. His service ranged from field duty in the Philippines to senior command responsibility during World War I. Later, Reynolds was foundational to reforms within the surgeon general’s office as the military prepared for another global conflict, as outlined in his biography by the Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage.

The clinic continues to build on Reynold’s lasting legacy of military medicine innovation through top-notch care and renowned day-to-day readiness work, earning major quality and performance recognitions.

Career in the Philippines

Reynolds, born July 28, 1877, in Elmira, New York, completed medical school at the University of Pennsylvania and entered the U.S. Army as a surgeon in 1900.

Early assignments took him to the Philippines where he spent extended periods on hazardous field duty. Later, he earned the Silver Star for gallantry while treating wounded troops under fire during the fighting at Bud Dajo in 1905, according to his biography.

After returning to the United States, Reynolds continued building field medicine experience through hospital and training assignments. In April 1909, when Walter Reed General Hospital opened, he became its first adjutant and established administrative and organizational foundations for what would become the premier military medical institution.

World War I expanded his responsibilities. After the United States entered the war in 1917, Reynolds trained medical officers and later served as surgeon of the 77th Division, then as chief surgeon of the Second Army. The U.S. Army awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal for “exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services … in a duty of great responsibility” as a division and corps surgeon, as described in the War Department, General Orders No. 89, 1919.

Modernizing military medicine as surgeon general

Reynolds served as the U.S. Army’s surgeon general from June 1, 1935, to May 31, 1939, where he spearheaded practical reforms that improved wartime preparedness. According to his biography, Reynolds modernized field medical equipment, strengthened training, and supported structures to quickly expand military medical capacity. He also improved coordination across the medical department, including specialized functions such as dentistry, nursing, veterinary services, and statistics.

Reynolds focused on professional development and standardization in every aspect of his work. In 1936, he celebrated the centennial of the Army Medical Library and steered authorization of new construction for the institution and its museum, improving access to collections that supported professional education. His biography states Reynolds standardized revising clinical records used throughout the U.S. Army.

As global threats rose, his office began reorganizing the medical department to prepare for mobilization. In March 1939, he proposed reviving affiliated hospital units — reserve units sponsored by civilian hospitals and medical schools designed to staff dozens of hospitals if the military mobilized.

Emphasizing training as key to readiness, Reynolds re-established the Army Medical School graduate course in 1935 to strengthen officer training in military-unique subjects.

He retired in 1939 and died Dec. 2, 1961, at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C., and his legacy continues through the clinic in Oklahoma that bears his name and focus on readiness, access, and quality.

Clinic pays homage through award-winning care

While Reynolds Army Health Clinic is known for delivering outpatient care and readiness services for service members and their families, the facility’s accomplishments show the wide range of its high-quality services and efficacy standards.

In January 2023, the clinic earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for ambulatory health care and primary care medical home services; reflecting performance improvement and standards tied to patient safety, environment of care, medication management, and coordinated services. The clinic also earned recognition with the Practice Greenhealth Partner for Change awards for sustainability and resource efficiency.

The clinic also supports hands-on readiness events that test clinical and tactical skills. In 2023, it hosted an Expert Field Medical Badge competition at Fort Sill, bringing in candidates from across the U.S. Army and highlighting EFMB standards as a measure of proficiency and medical readiness.