Master Sergeant Michael W. Collins
Master Sergeant Collins enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at Recruiting Station, Indianapolis, Indiana, and attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California in May 1969.
Upon graduation, he attended Basic Electronics and the Fundamentals of Digital Logic courses at the Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School, San Diego, California.
Master Sergeant Collins was then transferred to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey where he attended the fixed ciphony repair course. in February 1971,
Master Sergeant Collins graduated from the Fixed Ciphony Repair Course as an Automatic Secure Voice Communications Technician, and he was transferred to Marine corps air station, El Toro, California.
From September 1972 to August 1974, Master Sergeant Collins served with headquarters and service squadron, Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan where he was assigned to the Ground Electronics Maintenance Section, Technical Control Facility.
During September 1974, Master Sergeant Collins was transferred to Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California where he was assigned to Base Electronics as an Automatic Secure Voice Communications technician.
From September 1975 to February 1979, Master Sergeant Collins served with Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School, Twentynine Palms, California as an instructor for the Terminal Equipment Theory course and the Mobile Data Communications Terminal Technician Course (AN/TYC-5B).
In February 1979, Master Sergeant Collins was transferred to Marine Wing Communication Squadron-18, 1st marine aircraft wing, Okinawa, Japan as a Mobile Data Communications Terminal Technician.
From March 1980 to March 1983 Master Sergeant Collins served with the Command, Control, and Communications Division, Marine Corps Development and Education Command, Quantico, Virginia. During this time, Michael held billets as the Development Project Officer for several TRI-TAC programs to include the Short-haul Fiber Optics System and initiated the Marine Corps Fiber Optics program. Additionally, Michael spearheaded the Marine Corps involvement in the development of the first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in conjunction with the United States Army. In March 1983, Master Sergeant Collins was transferred to the Training and Audio-Visual Support Section, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California where he served as a Broadcast Engineer, Closed-Circuit Television technician, and as the Maintenance Management Chief. In February 1986, Master Sergeant Collins was assigned to the 3d Marine Division, where he was initially assigned as the Maintenance Chief for the Communications Company, Headquarters Battalion, and later as the Assistant Maintenance Officer in the Division G-6 section. From January 1989 to the end of his career, Master Sergeant Collins held billets as the Administrative Computer Support Chief for the Information Systems Development Section, Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School, Twentynine Palms, California.
Michael Collins' awards include: Navy Commendation Medal
Navy A0evement Medal
Good Conduct Medal, 6th award
National Defense Service Medal
Sea Service Deployment Ribbon
Rifle Expert Badge
Pistol ( .45 caliber ) Expert Badge
Numerous Letters of Appreciation
Numerous Letters of Recognition
Meritorious Mast
Michael Collins and his wife retired in Twentynine Palms where they now own a computer retail/service business, a Radio Shack franchise, and are the communities local Internet Service Provider. since Master Sergeant Collins retirement from the Marine Corps in 1989, he has served as the vice president and the president of ReachOut 29, an inter-faith caregiving organization, a board of directors’ member of the Action Council for 29 Palms and is currently serving his second year as the president of the Twentynine Palms Chamber of Commerce.
Master Sergeant Collins is married to the former Sharon Kay Johnson of Milan, Indiana. They have two children: Michael Jason, 28, and Joshua B, 26.
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