Mike Collins
In the spring of 1995, Mike Collins joined the "Tuff Riders" mountain bike club. It was there that he met Roger Petrin, who introduced Mike to the Brigade. He heard Roger telling "horror stories" about a rescue that had just taken place on Memorial Day weekend. Mike already owned much of the gear that was recommended by the Brigade. The prospect of being able to help others while carrying his fully loaded backpack was very appealing.
Mike attended the very next General Meeting of the Brigade (June 1995), and has been an active participant in Brigade activities ever since. He was officially "voted in" as a LAAFB member in August of 1995, and proceeded to serve as the team's Secretary (1996), and Training Officer (1997). He recently helped create the "Los Alamos Search and Rescue Information Line", 505-667-5017. Currently Mike is CPR trained, and is a licensed Amateur Radio Operator (Technician class, call sign KC5VIM).
After earning his MS degree in physics at Iowa State in 1994, Mike moved directly to Los Alamos. He is now a technical staff member in the Safeguards Science and Technology group (NIS-5), Nonproliferation and International Security (NIS) division, Los Alamos National Laboratory. There, Mike helps design, develop, and test detectors that measure Uranium and Plutonium contained in sealed packages. Group NIS-5 helps ensure that no U or Pu gets "lost" from various nuclear facilities worldwide, because if some got lost, that would be bad.
Mike's #1 hobby is "using SAR gear", with "shopping for SAR gear" a close second. Other favorites include touring New Mexico, hiking, snowshoeing, backpacking, camping, and Country-Western dancing with his sweetie pie.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE...
Ever since attending the June 1995 general meeting, Mike Collins has been hooked on the Brigade. Why?
* THE GROUP. It reminded him of his old Boy Scout troop. The Brigade meets on Monday nights, like Troop 184. And they even pledge allegiance to the Flag at general meetings, like at scout meetings. You see a lot of olive drab pants and red jackets at the activities for both organizations, too.
* THE HANGOUT. The Brigade meeting room is similar to the Physics Student Room at University of Northern Iowa. Big tables. Tattered chairs. Questionable paint colors. Physics and chemistry majors discussing the big issues. Piles of decades-old publications here and there. A sink and refrigerator, and cheap sodas for sale. All the comforts you need when you start an assignment at 3 AM.
* THE BEEPS. The excitement of hearing the pager go off, or the phone ring, or both, at 2:30 AM. Better yet, the excitement of calling all the people in the Brigade who don't have pagers, at 2:30 AM.
* THE DOGGIES. Plenty of entertainment provided by the search dogs of our fellow team, the Mountain Canine Corps. Dogs that wear voice pagers. Dogs that wear flashing red LED's at night. Dogs that wear blaze orange jackets and doggy backpacks. Dogs that fetch snowballs out of snowdrifts. Just don't plan on outsmarting them in a game of hide-and-go-seek.
* THE GIZMOS. Plenty of reasons (excuses) to buy high tech gadgets. Did someone else's GPS come in handy on a search? Did a radio prove to be useful while doing first aid coverage? Is a polycarbonate signal mirror as effective as a glass one? The answer to all these questions is: buy one!
Mike can be reached at mlc@nis5.lanl.gov.
LAAFB pages maintained by Dave DuBois
Last updated September 19, 1997.