Thomas H. Collins

Thomas Collins
Born	(1946-06-25) June 25, 1946 Stoughton, Massachusetts
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Coast Guard
Years of service	1968 - 2006
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Commandant of the Coast Guard Pacific Area and Eleventh Coast Guard District USCGC Cape Morgan (WPB-95313)
Battles/wars	September 11 attacks

Thomas Hansen Collins (born June 25, 1946)^[1] is a retired United States Coast Guard 4 star admiral who served as the 22nd Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from 2002 to 2006.

Background

A native of Stoughton, Massachusetts, Collins graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1968 and later served as a faculty member within the Humanities Department. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of New Haven.

Operational assignments

Collins began his Coast Guard career as a deck watch officer and first lieutenant aboard the cutter Vigilant. Following that assignment, he served a two-year tour as Commanding Officer of the cutter Cape Morgan, a patrol boat homeported in Charleston, South Carolina. His shore operational assignments include Deputy Commander, Group St. Petersburg, Florida, and Commander of Coast Guard Group and Captain of the Port, Long Island Sound, in New Haven, Connecticut.

Senior and flag officer assignments

Prior to his promotion to Flag Officer in 1994, he served as Chief, Programs Division at Coast Guard Headquarters, and then the Coast Guard’s Deputy Chief of Staff.

From 1998 to 2000 he served as Commander, Pacific Area and Eleventh Coast Guard District, where he developed the successful Coast Guard response to the increase in illegal drug and migrant smuggling traffic in the Eastern Pacific. His other flag assignments include serving as Commander, Fourteenth Coast Guard District in Honolulu, Hawaii and Chief, Office of Acquisition at Coast Guard Headquarters where he managed the acquisition of twelve major systems worth nearly $3 billion and laid the foundation for the ill-fated Integrated Deepwater System project, which was intended to modernize the ships, aircraft and sensors that the Coast Guard uses to perform its many open ocean missions.

Admiral Thomas H. Collins speaks to Coast Guard recruits, June 2004

Vice-Commandant

Prior to becoming Commandant, he served as the Coast Guard's Vice Commandant, the number two post, from 2000 to 2002 where he created the Innovation Council, spearheaded service-wide process improvement initiatives and directed system enhancements as the Coast Guard Acquisition Executive.

Commandant

Collins served as the 22nd Commandant of the Coast Guard from 2002 to 2006,^[2][3] and guided the Coast Guard after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Later work

Collins serves as a director on the boards of GeoEye Analytics, Inc. (formerly SPADAC),^[4] EID Passport Inc, USIS Inc and Terma North America, and as a director with the Coast Guard Foundation. He consults in areas of national security and maritime security, safety, and environmental protection.

Insignia and personal decorations

Advanced Boat Force Operations Insignia

	Transportation Distinguished Service Medal
	Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal[5]
	Defense Distinguished Service Medal[5]
	Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal
	Legion of Merit with 2 gold award stars
	Meritorious Service Medal with gold award star
	Coast Guard Commendation Medal with 2 gold award stars
	Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas H. Collins.

• U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office - Admiral Collins

This article contains information from the United States Coast Guard, and by US public law, is in the public domain.