After leaving the Navy, Rick's high school aspiration was finally fulfilled when he became a Senior Naval Architect at what is now the M. Rosenblatt and Son group of AMSEC LLC. Since joining Rosenblatt, Rick has worked primarily on the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater project to replace/upgrade several classes of cutters and in support of several efforts for the U.S. Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command.

Rick was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy in the relatively new Engineering Duty Option program in May 1978. After completing the Submarine Basic Officers Course in New London, Connecticut, his initial Navy duty station was aboard the nuclear attack submarine USS SPADEFISH (SSN 668) where he earned his gold "dolphins."

In a career that spanned over 20 years, Rick spent 3/4ths of his Navy time with the US Navy as an Engineering Duty Officer, stationed at Portsmouth and Norfolk Naval Shipyards, and on the staffs of the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and the Engineering Duty Officer School. During that time he was also able to complete post-graduate studies in the Ocean Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earning both an Ocean Engineer's degree and a Masters of Science degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

Highlights of Rick's Navy career include assignments:

• Naval Shipyard Docking Officer
• Project/Ship Superintendent for the overhauls of several nuclear submarines
• Complex overhaul of the USS WASP (LHA 1)
• Engineering Duty Officer School Basic Course Director
• Head of U.S. Atlantic Fleet's Budget Control Branch controlling an annual budget of over $1.3B
• Inactive Fleet Program Manager where issues such as: ship scrapping, battleship donations, ship sinking exercises and the placement of MARAD ships into Navy facilities vied for newspaper headlines and ensured the assignment was anything but "inactive."

Rick officially retired from the Navy as a Commander on January 1, 1999.

U.S. Coast Guard 3rd Assistant Engineer's license (Steam and Diesel, Unlimited Horsepower)

• SUNY Maritime College (BE in Naval Architecture) with NROTC Scholarship
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME)
• American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE)

Mr. Hillenbrand graduated from Guilderland Central High School in upstate New York. He married the former Elizabeth (Libby) Sarber in 1983, and along with their two sons, they live in Springfield, Virginia. In his spare time, Rick is extremely active as an adult volunteer in the Boy Scouts at the District and unit level.