A cryptologic technician for the U.S. Navy died during a freak windstorm while on a secret mission to an undisclosed country in 2021, according to a report published Monday.
The storm caused the collapse of the roof of a building where Cryptologic Technician Technical 1st Class Robin Collins, 26, and her team were operating, according to an internal investigation obtained by the Navy Times. Collins was three days into her deployment at the time of her death on July 18.
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“The evidence demonstrates that CTT1 Collins’ death was a tragic accident due to unpredictable, sudden and intense weather conditions that caused the roof and chimney of a building to collapse on CTT1 Collins,” the investigation report said. “Within the span of minutes, the weather transformed from a calm sunny day to extreme winds, strong enough to tear the roof from a chimney.”
Collins was on temporary duty when she died. She was accompanying a chief cryptologic technician, an intelligence specialist 2nd class, and a third unknown person whose name and position were redacted. Collins was based out of Naples, Italy, but the location of her death was redacted in the report.
CTT1 Robin Nicole Collins died in 2021 during a secret mission in a country that Big Navy won’t identify, citing operations security. Team members said a sudden wind storm collapsed the roof/chimney the building they were operating out of, killing her.https://t.co/HULLrz1iwX
— Geoff Ziezulewicz (@JournoGeoffZ) March 20, 2023
Collins’s teammates on the mission claimed that the day started calm and sunny before unexpected winds of up to 90 mph occurred. The crew decided to camp out in a shelter that had electricity instead of staying in their tents. When the wind began, the team noticed the roof of the building was starting to break, and the team’s leader called for everyone to get out.
Collins’s three teammates were able to get out and believed Collins was behind them. However, she did not make it and was buried under rubble. When the team was able to reach her, they attempted to revive Collins through CPR for 45 minutes until help could arrive, but she was pronounced dead on the scene.
An autopsy of Collins determined the cause of her death was “mechanical asphyxia due to compression of the chest and abdomen,” according to the report.
Cryptologic technicians collect and analyze electronic intelligence, conduct electronic warfare, operate and maintain electronic sensors and computer systems, and provide technical and tactical guidance to surface, subsurface, air, and special warfare operations.
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Collins was the second cryptologic sailor to die on a mission in recent years. Cryptologic Technician Senior Chief Shannon Kent, 35, died in a suicide bomb attack in Syria in 2019. Three other U.S. service members also died in that bombing.
Collins enlisted in the Navy in 2016, and she had served in Naples since 2020. She is survived by both parents, her twin sister, a brother, and several other family members, according to her obituary.
