Ricardo Reyes
Research Participation Program Assignment Results in Career with the U.S. Army
Major Ricardo Reyes, a health physicist and nuclear medical science officer, served nearly 2.5 years as a postgraduate participant at the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM), which is administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. While at USACHPPM, Reyes became interested in the military and was commissioned before his participant appointment expired.
High-resolution version of photo. Photo courtesy of U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher Heryford.
Major Ricardo Reyes’ career path took an unexpected turn in 1999, thanks to his participation in the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM) postgraduate research participation program in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Having spent nearly two years in the program, Reyes—a health physicist and nuclear medical science officer—was approached by a U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon General consultant while attending a military conference where he presented some of his USACHPPM research.
“[He] encouraged me to come on active [military] duty,” Reyes said. Reyes, whose interest in the Army already piqued prior to joining the USACHPPM program, felt a career in the Armed Forces would offer a variety of experiences including practical applications. So this invitation sealed the deal for Reyes. In December 1999, he was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Army.
After leaving the USACHPPM fellowship in the spring of 2000, Reyes found himself right back at USACHPPM—his first military assignment. While there, Reyes contributed to the development of technical guides, which were designed to assist deployed soldiers in identifying and assessing health hazards related to radiological sources. These guides have been widely used by U.S. Department of Defense emergency responders, civil support teams and academia, including programs at Louisiana State University and Florida State University.
Reyes was also deployed to respond to the Sept. 11, 2001, incident at the Pentagon as part of the Special Medical Augmentation Response Team-Preventive Medicine.
“My specific mission was to determine if there was any radiological hazard as a result of potential radiation contamination dispersed by the plane’s explosion upon impact,” Reyes said. But no radiological contamination was found.
Reyes learned of the research fellowship at USACHPPM just after he completed his master’s in medical health physics from the University of Florida. Reyes applied for and was accepted to the program in 1997 as a health physicist, putting on hold his plans to get his doctoral degree in medical health physics.
Since joining the military, Reyes has had several overseas assignments, including time spent in Germany, Kuwait and Iraq. He was also promoted to Captain and, most recently, to Major. In addition to his military work, Reyes is working to complete his doctorate degree in medical health physics at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda.
When referring to the USACHPPM program, which is administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Army, Reyes said: “It is an excellent opportunity for recent science and technology graduates to gain a work experience in their specific fields that goes beyond entry level. It gradually exposes its participants to many echelons of expertise and serves as a venue to gain the necessary knowledge and experience for a successful professional career.”