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FINANCE CORPS HISTORY

Diamond Points” Profile:
Finance Corps’ First Retired Colonel to become a Senior Executive Service (SES)
For the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Colonel (R) Mr. Chris Zimmerman
COL (R) Chris Zimmerman served on active duty in the U.S. Army

Finance Corps from 1990-2017. He continues to support the Finance
Corps Association and the financial management profession as the
Comptroller for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) as
a civil servant and member of the Defense Intelligence Senior
Executive Service (DISES). COL (R) Zimmerman leads all aspects of
NGA’s financial reporting, policy and audit and oversees the agency’s
financial operations in St. Louis. The St. Louis mission includes vendor
pay, travel, and accounting operations – fundamentals of our profession.

Chris grew up in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania and attended Mansfield
University, where he earned his ROTC commission and a bachelor’s
degree in economics. He attended the Finance Officer Basic Course COL (R) Zimmerman
at Fort Benjamin Harrison in 1991 with a follow-on assignment to the
United States Army South, Fort Clayton, Republic of Panama. He served as the Cash Control Officer
and later Disbursing Officer supporting two Class B offices and hundreds of paying agents with a
cash holding authority more than $40 million dollars. He relied heavily on those early learning
experiences, providing cash support in Central and South America, throughout his career.
Coordinating aircraft cash pallets from the Federal Reserve, planning helicopter transport to nearby
posts, and frequent alarm responses to Building 519 were opportunities to learn, and the exemplary
leadership of LTC (R) Joseph Emery, Mr. Dean Waldon, Irma Finocchiaro, LTC (R) David Stokes, and
a long list of NCOs set a positive environment for success.

After graduating from the Finance Officer Advanced
Course in 1994, then-CPT Zimmerman commanded a
finance detachment at the 101 Finance Battalion,
st
Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with two future Sergeants
Major, SSG Trivia Cole and SGT Eric Couchman,
serving as squad leaders. In 1995, the Battalion
Commander, COL (R) Gregg Hill, selected him to
st
lead a team supporting Task Force Bastogne, 101
Airborne Division (Air Assault) in support of Operation
Uphold Democracy and the United Nations Mission in
Haiti. The deployment enhanced his cash operations
knowledge and added exposure to vendor pay, travel,
and military pay. Today COL (R) Zimmerman remains
grateful for the opportunity to serve with the amazing
team of NCOs and Soldiers – MSG (R) Ray Sweetsir,
SGM (R) Barb Gironda, SGT Kathy Winters, Abe
Pappan, and Ben Smith – who became a tight family
that still keeps in touch.

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