Every time a service member is deployed, they risk their lives. When a member of the Armed Forces is killed, the entire country mourns. This was the case with a Navy member who died in 2021, and we are now learning more about her death.
The Navy Times reported in November 2021 that the US Navy was not releasing many details about Cryptologic Technician 1st Class Robin Nicole Collins’ July 18th death. The only thing that was revealed was that she died while in the operational area of the US 6th Fleet, which includes 105 countries. The military branch also revealed she died when a “shelter roof and chimney collapsed during heavy weather.”
Cmdr. Richlyn Ivey, the 6th Fleet’s spokesperson at the time, told the Times that they were unable to release any information about where Collins died or what she was doing at the time of the accident.
The New York Times has released new information about her death, but it is still limited. Journalists obtained a copy of an internal investigation into Collins’ death, according to a March 20 report. Her unit was on a covert mission in an unnamed country and planned to sleep in tents. They did, however, find a building with electricity and decided to stay there. On the day she died, “unpredictable, sudden, and intense weather conditions” caused a chimney and a roof to collapse on her.
The storm that caused the accident arrived unexpectedly. In fact, the report stated that it was a “calm sunny day” before there were “extreme winds, strong enough to tear the roof from a chimney” within a couple of minutes. Wind gusts reached 90 miles per hour.
Collins was on “temporary duty” with three other people on the day she died, including a chief cryptologic technician-networks. According to the investigation, they had not performed an engineering assessment on the building, but it appeared to be “relatively new.” When the building started to fall apart, the chief ordered everyone to leave. Collins was unable to flee in time. Her team discovered her beneath a five-foot pile of roof and chimney rubble.
The team started CPR and requested a medical helicopter. Unfortunately, when medical personnel arrived, Collins was pronounced dead.
Collins is survived by her twin sister, brother, step-siblings, parents, grandparents, and a slew of other people who adored her.
