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| Executive Director's Biography |
Rear Admiral LeRoy Collins, Jr., USNR (Ret.) is Executive Director of the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs. He was appointed by Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet on Jan. 18, 2007. The admiral directs a state agency responsible for assisting, without charge to the claimant, Florida's 1.8 million veterans, their families and survivors in improving their health and economic well-being through quality benefit information, advocacy, education and long-term health services. The department operates five veterans' nursing homes and one assisted living facility through the State Veterans' Homes Program.
A native of Tallahassee, Fla., Admiral Collins received his commission from the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1956. His naval career began with a tour aboard amphibious transport USS Calvert (APA-32), followed by Submarine Officer's Basic Course in Groton, Conn., and duty aboard submarine USS Chivo (SS-341). In 1961, he served as an analyst for Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C. and served as a ballistic missile weapons officer from 1963-1965 aboard the newly commissioned nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine USS James Madison (SSBN-627). After a brief stint working missile test operations at Naval Ordnance Training Unit, Cape Canaveral, Fla., he transferred to the Navy Reserve in 1966.
While a naval reservist, Admiral Collins served in 1968-1969 as commanding officer of the coastal minesweeper USS Thrush (MSC-204), and later served as commanding officer of various Navy Reserve submarine units. He was the Navy's liaison to the Florida National Guard in 1978-1979, and later commanding officer of the Navy liaison unit at U.S. Readiness Command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.
The admiral served as commander, Naval Reserve Readiness Command, Region 8 in 1985-1987, and later served as deputy chief of Naval Operations (Reserve) for Logistics, Pentagon, until his retirement from the Navy Reserve as a two-star Rear Admiral in October 1990.
Concurrent with his service in the Navy Reserve, he was an assistant to the president of Florida Power & Light Company, 1966-1968, and was an IBM data processing representative in Tampa, 1968-1969. As a business leader, he was the founding president of Financial Transaction Systems, Inc. from 1969-2005, and president of Telecredit Service Center, Inc. from 1974-1980. In addition, he served as president of Dynamic Realty of Tampa, Inc. from 1980-1987, was chairman of Gateway Holdings, Inc. from 1984-1990, and served as president of the Armed Forces Financial Network, 1985-2003.
He was a candidate for the Republican nomination in Florida for the U.S. Senate in 2006.
Admiral Collins is married to the former Jane Sisson of Tampa. They have two daughters, two sons and eight grandchildren.
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