Doug Collins, a major at the time in the Air Force Reserve, receives the Meritorious Service Medal, First Oak Leaf Cluster from Col. Tim Tarchick, commander of the 94th Airlift Wing, on Sept. 8, 2013, at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga. Collins received the medal for outstanding professional skill, leadership and ceaseless efforts to support the airmen and families of the unit. (Brad Fallin/U.S. Air Force )

WASHINGTON — Col. Doug Collins attended seminary school, worked as a pastor at a small-town church and served as a chaplain in the Navy and Air Force Reserve.

But the attorney also served four terms as a Republican House lawmaker from Georgia and was one of President-elect Donald Trump’s most ardent defenders in 2020 during Trump’s first impeachment trial.

When Trump announced Collins’ nomination Nov. 14 to be the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 58-year-old made it clear how he intends to approach the job.

“We’ll fight tirelessly to streamline and cut regulations in the VA, root out corruption and ensure every veteran receives the benefits they’ve earned,” the chaplain said on social media.

Collins’ selection marks the first time that a member of the military chaplain corps — one of the smallest and oldest units in the armed services — will lead the VA, which has a $369 billion budget and a workforce of nearly 400,000.

The VA can play a critical role in the lives of the nation’s 18 million veterans — delivering health care, tuition assistance, pensions, disability compensation, survivor benefits and other services.

But the agency has been dogged by complaints of fiscal mismanagement that include pushing Congress for an infusion of funds in September to cover a multibillion-dollar shortfall for fiscal 2024 that did not exist.

Collins declined to provide an interview prior to his confirmation hearing.

“Out of the utmost respect for the Senate and its constitutional responsibility, he will reserve comment for the confirmation hearing,” said a spokesperson for Trump’s transition team who spoke on condition of anonymity.

But the spokesperson offered some insights about how Collins’ military experiences shaped his values and are likely to influence his work at the VA.

“Doug’s time in the chaplaincy has taught him that leadership is about more than rank. It’s about listening, having a servant’s heart, motivating people and setting a good example for others to follow,” the Trump representative said. “Doug got his start in ministry serving at his local church. Taking that ministry to the military has allowed him to serve while working with people of all faiths as well as those who don’t subscribe to a particular faith.”

As a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve, Collins completed a deployment to Iraq in 2008 with the 94th Air Wing at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga. Collins already had experience in the military chaplain corps having served as a chaplain in the Navy for two years in the late 1980s.

Now a colonel, he continues to serve as a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve, with his most recent duty at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

But Collins’ career extends to serving in Congress as an elected lawmaker.

In 2012, Collins won a seat in Congress representing Georgia’s 9th congressional district, considered one of the strongest held GOP districts in the nation. He served in Congress from 2013 to 2021. Prior to that, he was a House member of the Georgia Legislature from 2007 to 2012.

As a member of Congress, Collins spoke on the House floor about the unusual role of military chaplains ministering to soldiers on the front lines.

“The duty of a military chaplain is to help guide the hearts and minds of the soldiers that he serves with or she serves and that comes from a perspective of a background of their own faith but also the respect of the faiths of others that they serve with, making sure that all feel a responsibility not to only do their job, their mission, but also to themselves, that they are being all they can be in their own careers, in their own missions,” Collins said.

While in Congress, he voted to support bills to expand veterans’ access to health care outside the VA.

He supported the 2014 Choice Act that enabled former service members to seek non-VA medical services when an appointment was not readily available at a VA facility. He also voted for the 2018 Mission Act that gave veterans the ability to see physicians outside the VA in the private sector.

During former President Barack Obama’s administration, Collins introduced a resolution supported by both chambers of Congress to consider chaplains essential workers who continued to serve during a government shutdown in 2013.

Collins also is an outspoken critic of abortion, citing his own personal experience as the parent of a daughter with physical disabilities diagnosed before birth. His adult daughter, Jordan, was born with spinal bifida. Collins said after he and his wife learned about their child’s medical condition, his wife was encouraged by a colleague to have an abortion.

“The notion that for up to nine months my wife had the right to blot out Jordan’s voice seems counterproductive to the advancement of women’s rights and alien to the dignity undergirding every life,” Collins said in 2016, when he introduced legislation to ban federal funds for abortion services.

“It’s my privilege to channel the joy I’ve known as Jordan’s father into supporting legislation that protects the lives of the unborn and the well-being of their mothers — because abortion hurts women, too,” he said.

Collins holds a master’s degree in divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned his law degree from John Marshall Law School in Georgia.

When Trump announced Collins as his pick to lead the VA, he described Collins as “a great advocate for our active-duty service members, veterans and military families to ensure they have the support they need.”

“Doug has always believed military service is something we should honor and appreciate both during and after a person’s time in uniform,” the spokesperson for Trump’s transition team said.

On social media, Collins thanked Trump for the opportunity to serve.

“Together, we’ll make the VA work for those who fought for us. Time to deliver for our veterans and give them the world-class care they deserve,” he said.