Michael A. Collings This is Me

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1. 1. www.macon.com

   www.macon.com/197/story/390289 - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/28/2008   Last Visited: 6/28/2008

   Mike Collings watches the flag folding at the end of his formal retirement ceremony Friday at the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base.
   
   ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE --
   
   Maj. Gen.Mike Collings returned to Middle Georgia on Friday for a few additional moments of what he called "Camelot" before ending his 33-year career in the Air Force.
   
   The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center commander from 2004 to 2006 has been chief of the Office of Military Cooperation in Egypt the last two years, but chose Robins Air Force Base and the Museum of Aviation for his retirement site.
   
   Family, friends and civic leaders along with former employees and co-workers attended the proceedings at the Century of Flight Hangar.Edward Koenig III, retired member of the Senior Executive Service, presided over an agenda that included presentation of the Defense Superior Service Medal to Collings and a formal reading of the retirement orders.
   ...
   Koenig called himself an unabashed fan and close friend of Collings.
   ...
   The former Air Force Materiel Command official said Collings drove the local center to even greater heights.
   ...
   Andy Busch, now commander of Defense Supply Center Richmond in Virginia, headed the 402nd Maintenance Wing at Robins under Collings.
   ...
   Steve Davis, the retired former executive director of Warner Robins ALC, said Collings honestly cared for his people.
   ...
   Collings, who will reside in Arkansas, said an uncle imparted a guiding principle that he never forgot.The uncle, a B-17 pilot during World War II, was shot down over Europe and was missing for nine months.
   ...
   "I asked him why he had not told them about his prior service," Collings told the museum audience, "and he said, 'It's never about you.It's about serving your country in whatever capacity and the honor that goes along with it.',"
   
   The former commander said he never forgot that response and tried to incorporate it as a core value.
   
   Asked after the ceremony why he chose to retire at Robins, he said a major reason was the proximity of two children in Atlanta and other family members within a day's driving distance.
   
   "But there is always an assignment in your career that you look back on and say that was my Camelot," the general added in reference to King Arthur's idyllic place of justice, bravery and truth."Mine was Robins."
   
   He said the center's work force achieved many things in a short period of time.
   
   "The people of this base - their dedication and willingness to change, embrace new thinking and adopt new ways of doing business - were really incredible and unique," Collings said.

2. 2. www.macon.com

   www.macon.com/197/story/151170 - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/3/2007   Last Visited: 10/4/2007

   Mike Collings, center commander at the time, called in a 200-person team of experts to review safety procedures and training.

3. 3. Lean Manufacturing & Enterprise News Update: September 2005

   www.tomypak.com/news/lean/2005 - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/1/2005   Last Visited: 5/29/2008

   Mike Collings, center commander, announced to the C-5 Programmed Depot Maintenance work force their hard work had paid off in their bid for the much coveted Shingo Prize.