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FINANCE CORPS HISTORY (CON’T)

Like most junior officers, Chris debated a career change

for a short time before he crossed that 10-year mark.
Mentoring and encouragement from COL (R) Ron Cordell
and CSM (R) Paul Morrisette convinced him to continue
serving and he PCS’d from Fort Campbell to the Arctic
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Paymasters of the 267 Finance Battalion, Fort Richardson,
Alaska. After a second successful detachment command
tour with Detachment Sergeant MSG (R) J.R. Reaves and
SGM (R) Brian Letourneau, Chris attended the University
of Alaska full-time to earn his MBA, and was selected for
early promotion to MAJ.

MAJ Zimmerman next attended the Command and General Staff College and was looking forward
to his assignment as a battalion Executive Officer but 9/11 changed the world and his assignment.
He was re-directed to the XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters to serve as the Secretary of the
General Staff. Instead of managing a subordinate battalion staff, Chris found himself managing and
coordinating events for General Officers and Corps staff principals. This challenging assignment
exposed Chris to strategic executive leadership and learning from officers like future FORSCOM
Commanding General, then-LTC Michael X. Garrett, and then-COL Ann Dunwoody, the first female
Army officer to achieve 4-star rank.
Following his SGS assignment, BG (R) Mark McAlister selected Chris to serve as the Operations
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Officer for the 18 Soldier Support Group with the primary mission of preparing for deployment.
MAJ Zimmerman teamed with SGM (R) Vincent Parisi to coordinate the mission preparation and
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training for the 18 SSG Headquarters and 28 subordinate detachments rotating in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom. He forward-deployed with as the senior finance officer on the XVIII
Airborne Corps staff to support Multi-National Corps – Iraq from the Al Faw Palace, Baghdad.

Immediately following redeployment, Chris was selected for a nominative assignment where he
served in several consecutive financial management roles and promoted BZ to Lieutenant Colonel.
This high-visibility assignment managing intelligence funding included a stellar team with a legacy
supporting and leading the Finance Corps. Teammates included CSM Chris Cascardo, SGM (R)
Scott Vyner, SGM (R) Trivia Cole, SGM (R) Travis Codding, SGM (R) Mike Niles, MSG (R) Jennifer
Burr, MSG (R) Jessie Jones, LTC (R) Will Lewis, LTC (R) CD Cegledi, LTC Maria Bingham, COL
Catherine Black, and many others.

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