Tom Collins

Friends call me TC. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Joined the Air Force shortly after graduating from high school. My 23 year military career involved stops in Florida, England, Ohio, and Alaska. Most of my career was spent in support of special operations where I worked as an avionics specialist on all US special operation helicopters and C-130 platforms. Our moto was anytime anyplace, and you kept a packed bag in your trunk for a reason. Later, my career took me to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center where I was provided an opportunity to support interesting missions geared towards foreign material exploitation across the pond. During my lengthy military career, I often deployed oversees in support of hot spots or wartime events to include the first and second Gulf Wars.

I had always dreamed of visiting Alaska and was grateful when the USAF stationed me and my family to Elmendorf AFB in 1996. During this time I was able to explore the great state and engage in many of the outdoor adventures it had to offer. My love of the mountains soon grew as I has spent 20 years exploring many of the surrounding mountain ridges and peaks. My other passionate interests include hunting, fishing, scuba, pack rafting, and golfing. I’m married to my lovely wife Tina after 31 years and we have two lovely daughters living out of state.

The Gold Star Peak organization was a particular interest to me, having spent time in the military and witnessing the devastating effects to families after losing military members. As I climbed both Gold Star Peak and Mount POW/MIA over the last couple of years, I knew I had to do more than just summit those peaks and pay my respects. I reached out to Kirk and here we are.

I love to assist Gold Star Family members as they strive to reach the summit in hopes some form of healing is achieved.  My desire to give back and provide some level of support, whether technical or emotional, to the families of lost military members was what lead me to seek out this great organization with the intent of serving in some capacity.