John Honeycutt Hinrichs was born at Sandy Hook Proving Ground in Sandy Hook, New Jersey on July 10, 1904 to Frederic William Hinrichs, Junior and Mary Honeycutt-Hinrichs. His father and grandfather, John Thomas Honeycutt, were both graduates of the United States Military Academy, West Point.
In 1928 he graduated from the United States Military Academy. Hinrichs graduated from the Army Industrial College in 1937.
He was most prominent for his service as Chief of Ordnance. He was raised in California. Hinrichs was initially assigned to the Field Artillery branch.
In 1932 he received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 1935 he transferred from Artillery to the Ordnance Corps. Hinrichs served in numerous Ordnance assignments in the United States and overseas, including a posting to Frankford Arsenal and command of the Twin Cities Ordnance Plant.
From 1943 to 1945 Hinrichs was executive officer (second in command) of the Maintenance Division in the Ordnance Department"s Field Service Office. In this position he was responsible for improving equipment and weapons readiness by analyzing data to identify systemic causes for breakdowns and repairs, and developing solutions to minimize the time these items were non-mission capable.
In the late 1940s Hinrichs served as Ordnance Officer for United States. Army Forces, Middle Pacific.
In 1948 Hinrichs graduated from the National War College. From the early to mid-1950s Hinrichs was head of the Field Service Division. From 1955 to 1958 Hinrichs was Deputy Chief of Ordnance.
From 1958 until his 1962 retirement Hinrichs was the Army"s Chief of Ordnance.
He was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1959. Hinrichs was the Army"s last Chief of Ordnance until the position was reinstituted again 20 years later.
The Chief of Ordnance billet was abolished upon his retirement as the result of a plan to reorganize and streamline the Army"s command and staff structure. The position was instituted again in 1983.
In 1962 Hinrichs had been announced as the first head of a new Supply and Maintenance Command.
As a result of the controversy over whether the contractors were being overpaid, and because he opposed the reorganization, Hinrichs opted to retire. Hinrichs died in Carmel, California on February 13, 1990.
In April, 1962 he gave Congressional testimony defending Nike Zeus Missile contractors against charges of excessive profiteering on previous projects.
