Layla Collins

Wife of Jay; Mom to Gabe & Colt; Vet 🇺🇸 school choice; ASD mom; proud Floridian; conservative fighter; Gov DeSantis Appointee - FL Board of Education🏖️

[Jay Collins @JayCollinsFL]

I was honored to speak yesterday at the Welcome Home Veterans Luncheon in Eustis. As a veteran, I appreciated the chance to sit down with men and women from across Lake County whose time in uniform spanned generations.

Thank you to the Lake Federated Republican Women’s Club for bringing us together and to retired Judge Larry Metz, a Marine veteran, for starting this tradition. To all who served, welcome home.

[Jay Collins @JayCollinsFL]

Yesterday in Inverness, I joined Citrus County in unveiling its Veterans Wall of Fame. The wall recognizes eight local veterans, including Rear Adm. Carlton McLeod, who was honored posthumously.

Every name on that wall has a story, and I’m proud to see those stories given a permanent place. Now, when families walk into the Citrus County Courthouse, they can learn about these men who served our country and called this community home.

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

That’s 20 for me. I retired while @JayCollinsFL was recovering at Walter Reed; Jay has 23 years. I guess I’m the quitter. Just keeping the Army sense of humor alive 😂

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

🇺🇸 @JayCollinsFL and I served this great nation for a combined 43 years on active duty with multiple combat deployments. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always an honor because of patriots defined by core values like selfless service, integrity, honor, and personal courage.

Today, on Veterans Day, we celebrate all who served and continue to serve. We are truly blessed because of your service and sacrifice. 🇺🇸

[Jay Collins @JayCollinsFL]

It was a privilege to speak in St. Augustine today standing alongside St. Johns County Sheriff @Rob_HardwickFL, Lt. Col. Bill Dudley and hundreds of patriots.

To be in a room with so many who have given so much for this country is a powerful reminder of the sacrifice and courage that keeps our nation free. Thank you to Anastasia Baptist Church for hosting this meaningful tribute, and thank you to every man and woman who has worn the uniform and stood strong.

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

@sarahadams @Real_miss_Jodie @JayCollinsFL Thank you. I don’t have a lot of open pictures in uniform or any type of military anything. I’ve always been terrible at keeping pictures of myself. lol

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

🇺🇸 @JayCollinsFL and I served this great nation for a combined 43 years on active duty with multiple combat deployments. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always an honor because of patriots defined by core values like selfless service, integrity, honor, and personal courage.

Today, on Veterans Day, we celebrate all who served and continue to serve. We are truly blessed because of your service and sacrifice. 🇺🇸

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

And I’m also incredibly thankful that so many of our friends from this day were there with us when @JayCollinsFL was sworn in yesterday!

[Jay Collins @JayCollinsFL]

Veterans Day honors all those who swore the oath, signed the contract and served this great nation.

Service doesn’t end when the uniform comes off. I see it in the way veterans across Florida continue to lead. To serve. To make a difference.

America needs our veterans to share their experiences and lead in business, education, government and even politics.

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

The service and sacrifice of our veterans should be respected, cherished, and appreciated every day. Everything we can do, say, and accomplish is because of a fellow veteran. When we hang up the uniform, the mission doesn’t end.

[Vice President JD Vance @VP]

Vice President JD Vance on the importance of fighting for our veterans:

“One of the most important things our veterans do is not just fight for their country, they fight for their fellow veterans. And let me say, as one veteran to the next, we are picking up that torch every single day. We will never leave our veterans behind. Ladies and gentlemen, that is my most sacred promise to every person here today.”

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

When a known terrorist can direct an operation abroad from a jail cell, the issues and failures go far beyond this one incident.

[Sarah Adams @sarahadams]

What kind of Mickey Mouse operation are we running when we extradite a terrorist to the United States, only to let him plot an attack from inside a jail cell?

How does this happen?!

[Jay Collins @JayCollinsFL]

Happy 251st birthday to the United States Marine Corps!

Today we celebrate 251 years of loyalty, courage, grit and commitment.

We honor those that have worn the uniform or continue to serve.

Semper Fi!

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯 @japan_nobunaga]

On March 23, 2012, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, a U.S. Marine Corps dog named Lucca found a hidden bomb and kept searching for more. The next one went off underneath her.

Her handler, Cpl. Juan Rodriguez, saw it happen.

"I saw a cloud of dust, and there was an explosion."

There could have been more bombs in that ground. He ran to her anyway.

"I ran in, put a tourniquet on to stop the bleeding."

"I picked her up and we ran to a nearby tree line to get some cover."

Lucca lost her left front leg. She had burns on her chest, neck and head.

By then she had served about six years and more than 400 missions: two tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan. She was a specialized search dog, trained to work off leash, out in front of the patrol, alone, exactly where the danger was. The British animal charity that later decorated her said that on the patrols she led, there were no human casualties.

Rodriguez stayed with her through surgery and recovery.

"I was always with her, never left her side."

About ten days later, she was walking again. On three legs.

That summer she retired from the Marine Corps and went home to live with her first handler, Chris Willingham, who had partnered with her since 2006 and taken her through Iraq twice.

"She is the only reason I made it home to my family," Willingham said.

In 2016, in London, Lucca received the PDSA Dickin Medal, often called the animal Victoria Cross. She was the first U.S. Marine Corps dog ever to receive it.

She died in January 2018, almost 14 years old. Her ashes were later buried with military honors at a war dog memorial in Michigan.

"She's a legend of a dog to me," Rodriguez said.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day.

She walked in front so the troops behind her would not have to.

She came home on three legs.

A lot of Marines and soldiers came home on two because of her.

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

Congratulations @RepKatCammack !

[Jacob Ogles @jacobogles]

Just got confirmation @RepKatCammack has been selected as the next Florida Delegation GOP Chair.

[Department of State @StateDept]

SECRETARY RUBIO: We work for America. We don't work for the global order, we don't work for other countries. We work for the United States.

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

Foreign influence, even via proxy, is extremely dangerous. Whether the intent is disinformation, disruption and chaos, or obtaining seats, it is a direct threat to the sovereignty of our republic. All foreign influence needs to be shut down to protect our state and nation.

[Attorney General James Uthmeier @AGJamesUthmeier]

Today my office issued a subpoena to the Democratic Socialists of America. We’re examining foreign contributions—including from Cuba and China—tied to their delegations and travel fund solicitations.

FL law requires transparency. We will hold those who break the law accountable.

[David J Harris Jr @DavidJHarrisJr]

🚨BREAKING: Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a Green Beret who once performed emergency surgery on his own shattered arm in combat, is telling the Republican Party to treat its midterm losses the same way he treated a battlefield wound.

Collins, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis has called the “Chuck Norris of Florida politics,” says the GOP must stop the bleeding, get up, and fight after what DeSantis described as a near extinction-level midterm cycle. His prescription is the Florida model: hold the line on conservative principles while actively expanding the coalition to include no-party affiliated voters instead of only speaking to the base.

“Hard times happen. Warriors, leaders get up and fight,” Collins said. “That’s what we have to do now.”

The former Special Forces medic has been clear that the path forward is not retreat. It is the same refusal to quit that kept him in the fight after being wounded and later losing a leg.

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

Florida leads the way. So proud that @JayCollinsFL ran this bill. It was an incredible effort after hearing a constituent and parent’s concern.

[Florida Department of Education @EducationFL]

In the Free State of Florida, students learn the truth about the devastating ideology of communism.

Our History of Communism standards are the MOST comprehensive in the nation—and ensure the next generation never takes for granted the freedoms that define our way of life.

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

@TheyCallMeNans I saw it, but the point remains: someone still more than likely paid to put the slop out.

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

Ladies, please stop pontificating on military matters if unfamiliar with the military. Her Reserve time ended in 2025. Achieving Vice Admiral is a huge accomplishment, but it does not outrank the Secretary of War. Now as a member of Congress, her boss is “the people.”

[🖤 @DaizyZeeX]

Fun fact: Nancy Lacore outranks Pete Hegseth by a considerable margin. She would be the highest-ranking female military officer ever to serve in the US Congress.

[Layla Collins @Collinslayla]

@TheyCallMeNans 😂