2020 Superior Achievement Award

Presented to: Captain Andrew P. Zimmerman

Citation: For validating critical navigation processes and collaborating with Air Force tacticians to provide the highest standards of navigation and protection for the Air Force’s premier electronic attack asset.

Captain Andrew P. Zimmerman joined the Air Force in 2015 and serves as Combat Systems Officer. In this role, he validated critical navigation processes and collaborated with other Air Force tacticians to provide the highest standard of defensive protection for the Air Force’s premier electronic attack asset, the EC-130H COMPASS CALL. He has instituted two critical checklist changes that added critical safety software to the EC-130H mission operating system and implemented aircraft self-protection tactics gained during a formal Air Force training environment to improve aircraft survival.

While serving in combat, Capt Zimmerman identified that the aircraft’s navigation systems were drifting substantially (up to 30 nautical miles) from the aircraft’s actual position. He used the enhanced interrupted alignment (EIA) procedure to reduce the circular error probability from 0.8 nautical miles an hour to 0.5 nautical miles on the inertial navigation units. He delivered training to deployed aircrews and created an essential checklist procedure for using the EIA procedure for oceanic flights and those in degraded GPS environments. He created procedures to secure military GPS (MilGPS) encryption equipment on EC-130H aircraft that enabled precision navigation data for flying operations. His actions prevented access and exploitation to military GPS by foreign adversaries.

Additionally, Capt Zimmerman ensured critical software was added to the EC-130H operating systems. He overcame communication permission hurdles to deliver Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) files to the EC-130H systems program office that adds the capability to run line-of-site and reverse-line-of-site plots aboard the aircraft that increase mission effectiveness and domination in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Currently, Capt Zimmerman is the 55th Electronic Combat Group’s officer in charge of group weapons and tactics. He is a graduate of the Instructor Navigator Course with more than 1,000 flying hours, 700 served in combat. He flew combat missions in operations Inherent Resolve, Enduring Freedom, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Resolute Support Missions.