Collins served in the U.S. Army and Mississippi National Guard for more than 35 years and held numerous command and staff positions, including command of the Mississippi National Guard’s 155th Brigade Combat Team, which deployed to Iraq and was responsible for security operations in the southern and western provinces.

Collins was promoted to brigadier general in 2005 and is the first African-American to attain the rank of general in the history of the Mississippi National Guard. He retired in 2016 after serving five years as the adjutant general of both the Mississippi Army National Guard and the Mississippi Air National Guard.

From July 2010 to January 2012, Collins served as executive vice president for strategic planning of MINACT. From August 2007 to July 2010, he served on Mississippi’s Workers’ Compensation Commission as the commission’s representative of labor.

Collins received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi, an MBA from Jackson State University and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.