Brigadier General Hilmes has served as the Executive Vice President for Economic Development and as the Recompete Pilot Program Coordinator for the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley, Columbus, GA since April of 2024.

He has also served on the Executive Leadership Board of the Chattahoochee Hub for the Innovation and Production of Semiconductors (CHIPS4CHIPS or C4C) since February 2023. C4C is a 501c4 non-profit economic development consortium committed to attracting the semiconductor industry to the Columbus, GA region. 

General Hilmes culminated nearly 28 years of military service in early 2023. His final duty position was Commanding General, U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center, Fort Rucker, AL. He was commissioned as an armor officer upon graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY in 1995 and has led armor and cavalry units at multiples levels, spending nearly five years deployed on operational or combat missions, including three combat tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan, and two tours of duty as a NATO peacekeeper in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was awarded the silver star for gallantry in action during the ground invasion of Iraq in April 2003.

General Hilmes is very active within the Chattahoochee Valley community, serving as a board member for the Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation and the National Armor & Cavalry Heritage Foundation, as well as Director of the Veterans Action Committee – Columbus.