Editing Michael Collins (astronaut) (section)

==Military service==
===Fighter pilot===
Collins began basic flight training in the [[T-6 Texan]] at [[Columbus Air Force Base]] in [[Columbus, Mississippi]], in August 1952, then moved on to [[Camp Gary|San Marcos Air Force Base]] in [[Texas]] to learn instrument and formation flying, and finally to [[James Connally Air Force Base]] in [[Waco, Texas|Waco]], Texas, for training in jet aircraft. Flying came easily to him, and unlike many of his colleagues, he had little fear of failure. He was awarded his [[United States Aviator Badge|wings]] upon completion of the course at Waco, and in September 1953, he was chosen for advanced [[day fighter|day-fighter]] training at [[Nellis Air Force Base]], [[Nevada]], flying [[F-86 Sabre]]s. The training was dangerous; eleven people were killed in accidents during the 22 weeks he was there.{{sfn|Cullum|1960|p=605}}{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=8–9}}

This was followed by an assignment in January 1954 to the [[21st Fighter-Bomber Wing]] at [[George Air Force Base]], California, where he learned ground attack and [[nuclear weapons delivery]] techniques in the F-86. He moved with the 21st to [[Chambley-Bussières Air Base]], France, in December 1954. He won first prize in a 1956 gunnery competition.{{sfn|Cullum|1960|p=605}}{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=8–9}} During a [[NATO]] exercise that year, he was forced to eject from an F-86, near [[Quartier Général d'Aboville|Chaumont-Semoutiers AB]], after a fire started aft of the cockpit.{{sfn|Barbree|2014|p=184}}

Collins met his future wife, Patricia Mary Finnegan from [[Boston]], Massachusetts, in an officers' mess. A graduate of [[Emmanuel College (Massachusetts)|Emmanuel College]], where she majored in English, she was a social worker, dealing mainly with single mothers. To see more of the world, she was working for the Air Force service club. After getting engaged, they had to overcome a difference in religion. Collins was raised nominally [[Episcopal Church in the United States|Episcopalian]], while Finnegan came from a staunchly [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] family. Collins converted to Catholicism before their marriage. After seeking permission to marry from Finnegan's father, and delaying their wedding when Collins was redeployed to [[West Germany]] during the [[1956 Hungarian Revolution]], they married in 1957.{{sfn|Hansen|2005|pp=346–347}} They had a daughter, actress [[Kate Collins (actress)|Kate Collins]], in 1959,{{sfn|Chaikin|2007|p=599}} a second daughter, Ann, in 1961 and a son, Michael, in 1963.{{sfn|Collins|2001|p=43}}

After Collins returned to the United States in late 1957, he attended an aircraft maintenance officer course at [[Chanute Air Force Base]], [[Illinois]]. He would later describe this school as "dismal" in his autobiography; he found the classwork boring, flying time scarce, and the equipment outdated. Upon completing the course, he commanded a Mobile Training Detachment (MTD) and traveled to air bases around the world.{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=11–12}} The detachment trained mechanics on the servicing of new aircraft, and pilots how to fly them. He later became the first commander of a Field Training Detachment (FTD 523) back at Nellis AFB, which was a similar kind of unit, except that the students traveled to him.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westpointaog.org/page.aspx?pid=547|title=1998 Distinguished Graduate Award|date=May 13, 1998 |publisher=West Point Association of Graduates|access-date=March 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304172721/https://www.westpointaog.org/page.aspx?pid=547|archive-date=March 4, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Test pilot===
[[File:ARPS Class III.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Two rows of men in front of a jet|ARPS Class III graduates. Front row: [[Ed Givens]], [[Tommie Benefield]], [[Charles Bassett]], [[Greg Neubeck]] and Collins. Back row: Al Atwell, Neil Garland, Jim Roman, Al Uhalt and [[Joe Engle]]]]
Collins' MTD posting allowed him to accumulate over 1,500 flying hours, the minimum required for admission to the [[U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School|USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School]] at [[Edwards Air Force Base]], California. His application was successful, and on August 29, 1960, he became a member of Class 60C,{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=13–17}} which included [[Frank Borman]], [[Jim Irwin]] and [[Thomas P. Stafford|Tom Stafford]], who later became astronauts. Military [[test pilot]] instruction started with the North American [[T-28 Trojan]], and proceeded through the high performance [[F-86 Sabre]], [[B-57 Canberra]], [[T-33 Shooting Star]], and the [[F-104 Starfighter]].{{sfn|Burgess|2013|p=118}} Collins was a heavy smoker, but quit in 1962 after suffering a particularly bad [[hangover]]. The next day, he spent what he described as the worst four hours of his life in the [[Right seat (cockpit)|co-pilot's seat]] of a [[B-52 Stratofortress]] while going through the initial stages of [[nicotine withdrawal]].{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=153–155}}

The inspiration for Collins in his decision to become a NASA astronaut was the [[Mercury Atlas 6]] flight of [[John Glenn]] on February 20, 1962, and the thought of being able to circle the Earth in 90 minutes. Collins applied for the second group of astronauts that year. To raise the numbers of Air Force pilots selected, the Air Force sent their best applicants to a "charm school". Medical and psychiatric examinations at [[Brooks Air Force Base]], Texas, and interviews at the [[Manned Spacecraft Center]] (MSC) in [[Houston]] followed. In mid-September, he found out he had not been accepted. It was a blow even though he did not expect to be selected. Collins rated the [[NASA Astronaut Group 2|second group of nine]] as better than the [[Mercury Seven]] who preceded them, or the five groups that followed, including his own.{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=25–33}}

That year the USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School became the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS),{{sfn|Hansen|2005|p=347}} as the Air Force tried to enter into space research through the [[X-15]] and [[Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar|X-20]] programs. Collins applied for a new postgraduate course offered into the basics of spaceflight. He was accepted into the third class on October 22, 1962. Other students in his eleven-member class included three future astronauts: [[Charles Bassett]], [[Edward Givens]] and [[Joe Engle]].{{sfn|Burgess|2013|pp=18–19}} Along with classwork, they also flew up to about {{convert|90000|ft}} in [[Lockheed F-104 Starfighter|F-104 Starfighters]]. As they passed through the top of their arc, they would experience a brief period of [[weightlessness]]. On finishing this course he returned to fighter operations in May 1963.{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=34–40}}

At the start of June, NASA once again called for astronaut applications. Collins went through the same process as with his first application, though he did not take the psychiatric evaluation. He was at [[Randolph Air Force Base]], Texas, on October 14 when [[Deke Slayton]], the [[Chief of the Astronaut Office]] at NASA, called and asked if he was still interested in becoming an astronaut.  [[Charles Bassett]] was also accepted.{{sfn|Collins|2001|pp=40–46}} By this time Collins had flown over 3,000 hours, of which 2,700 were in jet aircraft.{{sfn|Burgess|2013|p=288}}