In 1987, Zimble was promoted to vice admiral (VADM) and held the office of Surgeon General of the United States Navy. As Navy Surgeon General, Zimble was the principal medical advisor to the United States Department of the Navy. He was responsible for developing and establishing overall naval health care policies and priorities, contingency and wartime planning, and program development in support of more than 2.8 million United States Navy and Marine Corps active duty and retired beneficiaries and their families. During this period, Zimble also presided over the disestablishment of the Naval Medical Command and the re-establishment of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED). He also oversaw the deployment of the Navy's two hospital ships (USNS "Mercy" and USNS "Comfort"), the fleet hospitals, and Medical Department personnel for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.