Robert J. Hintz was always interested in airplanes, but he never knew he wanted to work with them until his late teens. “I didn’t really grow up knowing I wanted to work on airplanes. I built a lot of plastic models of planes, never cars or tanks, always planes,” he explained. There was always a love for aviation in the back of his head, Hintz speculated, but he never thought of a career in aviation until he was around 19 years old. “I was sitting down with my recruiter and going through the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) book for what I wanted to do in the Marines and he flipped to the page that said ‘Aircraft Mechanic’ and I just knew that was the one,” Hintz said.
Hintz’s initial training was at Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina. There, he attended MOS school for three months for initial training to work on MV-22 Ospreys. Then, he started working on the fleet and continued his on-the-job training. He would go on to attend Bakers School of Aeronautics, where he completed his written A&P exams. He performed his oral and practical exam in Milwaukee, WI.
Hintz has held several different titles in the United States Marine Corps. He was a 6116 Tiltrotor mechanic, a Flightline Shop Plane captain, collateral duty inspector and collateral duty quality assurance representative. While he was in the Marines, Hintz and six other Marine mechanics received the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal for their work on the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. Since 2017, he has worked at Burlington Air Center, Inc. as an A&P mechanic. He is also the Mobile Response Team leader.
Hintz is grateful to his mentor, Cody Pillman, for helping him in his aviation career. “He really invested his time into molding me into a competent and thorough mechanic, and put his trust in me to be the Mobile Response Team leader for all of our on-the-road maintenance and inspections, the position which I hold today,” he continued.
Hintz gives back to the aviation industry by training newcomers. He says he shares the knowledge he has, but if someone asks a question he doesn’t know the answer to, he will do his best to find an answer for them.
In the future, Hintz said, “I just want to keep getting better and learning more every day, growing my mechanic skills and continuing to be a valued member of Burlington Air Center, Inc. We have a tight knit group of dedicated individuals that really make a fantastic team and I would love to have the opportunity to continue my career and to hone my skills at this company.”
