Lieutenant Colonel Collings reported to the School of Advanced Warfighting to serve as the Director of Operations in May 2025.
Lieutenant Colonel Collings attended Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas and graduated in 2002 with a BA in History. While in college, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve as a communications and electronics technician from 1999 through 2004. He commissioned via the Officer Candidate Course (OCC) program in 2004 and was assigned as an Infantry Officer. He received a Master of National Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2011, and a Master of Military Studies and a Master of Operational Studies from the Army Command and General Staff College in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Lieutenant Colonel Collings served as a Platoon Commander, Company Executive Officer, Company Commander, and Battalion Operation Officer all while assigned to 2d Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. He deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2005 and 2007), twice as part of the Battalion Landing Team assigned to the 26th MEU, and once as part of the Unit Deployment Program to Okinawa, Japan. His additional tours include training as a Foreign Area Officer, Faculty Advisor at the Marine Corps Tactics and Operations Group (MCTOG) in Twentynine Palms, California, and as an operational planner and Africa Regional Plans Branch head in the G-5 at Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa (MARFOREUR/AF).
Lieutenant Colonel Collings is a graduate of the Maneuver Captains Career Course; Naval Postgraduate School; US Army Command and General Staff College; US Army School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS); and the Air War College.