Chuck Collingwood: US Army Delta Force warrior and Las Vegas SWAT Officer was a true hero
LAS VEGAS — Retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department SWAT Officer Chuck Collingwood was a remarkable man.
Sadly, Chuck passed away last week of natural causes. He was only 68 years old and just four years into his second retirement.
If you would look up the word warrior in the dictionary you should see a picture of Chuck. He was by all accounts a lifelong warrior. He served this country for twenty years wearing the uniform of the United States Army. Then after a distinguished military career, Chuck decided to wear the uniform of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for another 20 years.
By all accounts, Chuck should have lived another 30 years, but that was not to be.
Chuck left this earth way too soon and is now wherever old soldiers and warriors go. Definitely in good company with other courageous warriors who will live on in eternity.
One friend of Chuck’s commented, “You are now guarding heaven’s gate.” Another said, “Service before self.”
Let’s take a look at the life of Chuck Collingwood. It is by all accounts like I said, remarkable.
Master Sgt. Chuck Collingwood, United States Army 1967-1987
In 1968 Chuck attended the US Army Airborne jump school.
Then one tour in Vietnam, Airborne Infantry.
Jumpmaster. US Army Golden Knights Sky Diving Team. Chuck had 5,200 competitive jumps with the famed US Army parachuting team.
In 1973 he was awarded the prestigious ‘US Army Golden Knight of the Year.’
10 years ‘Green Beret’ Special Forces warrior.
During the last 8 years of his military service, Chuck was a member of the best of the best, the United States Army Delta Force. He served with B Squadron Delta Force until his retirement after 20 years of service to his country.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department 1993-2014
Chuck was a member of the LVMPD SWAT Team for 17 years. He was a sniper, armorer, and firearms trainer.
After Chuck retired, he worked part-time with the SWAT Team as a trainer.
Chuck remained active in the skydiving world as a coach and trainer. He was to attend the Freefall Accuracy Trials to be held in Budapest, Hungary in a few weeks with the U.S. Parachute Team.
Chuck was a true warrior in every sense of the word. Loving husband and father. You will be missed, but never forgotten by your family, your colleagues and your friends.
Thank you, Master Sgt. Chuck Collingwood for all you did during your forty years of service to your country and the Clark County, Nevada community.
Doug authored over 135 articles on the October 1, 2017 Las Vegas Massacre, more than any other single journalist in the country. He investigates stories on corruption, law enforcement and crime. Doug is a US Army Military Police Veteran, former police officer, deputy sheriff and criminal investigator. Doug spent 20 years in the hotel/casino industry as an investigator and then as Director of Security and Surveillance. He also spent a short time with the US Dept. of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration. In 1986 Doug was awarded Criminal Investigator of the Year by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia for his undercover work in narcotics enforcement. In 1992 and 1993 Doug testified in court that a sheriff’s office official and the county prosecutor withheld exculpatory evidence during the 1988 trial of a man accused of the attempted murder of his wife. Doug’s testimony led to a judge’s decision to order the release of the man from prison in 1992 and awarded him a new trial, in which he was later acquitted. As a result of Doug breaking the police “blue wall of silence,” he was fired by the county sheriff. His story was featured on Inside Edition, Current Affair and CBS News’ “Street Stories with Ed Bradley”. In 1992 after losing his job, at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Doug infiltrated a group of men who were plotting the kidnapping of a Dupont fortune heir and his wife. Doug has been a guest on national television and radio programs speaking on the stories he now writes as an investigative journalist.