[5][6] After high school, he joined the United States Air Force, serving as an airman from 1980 to 1988.

Reeves served during the Gulf War and in military operations in Kosovo, Haiti, and Lebanon.

Later that same year, he was appointed deputy director of the Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board (VAB).

In October 2015, he was named to a three-year term on the Veterans Rural Health Advisory Committee.

Reeves was elected president of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs in August 2016.