Herbert’s deployments circled the globe
Eric Herbert enjoys golfing with his sons Nathaniel, at left, and Jacob. (CONTRIBUTED)
Veteran of the Week
MADISON – Eric Herbert completed voluminous deployments and assignments in his 25 years of military service.
He joined the U.S. Army in 1983. He was helicopter crew chief and mechanic as a Specialist 4th Class. With similar duties, he was in the U.S. Army National Guard for two years and attended Pennsylvania State University.
He was commissioned by Penn State Navy ROTC as Surface Warfare Officer and Engineering Duty Officer. Serving in the U.S. Navy until 2008, he reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
He completed basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C. and Advance Individual Training at Fort Rucker, Ala. He had two Arctic deployments to northern Alaska for “Operation Brim Frost” at Fort Richardson and Ellison Air Force Base. He also was stationed at Fort Riley, Kan. and Fort Indian Town Gap, Pa.
He served on the USS Suribachi, USS Mississippi, USS Fife and USS Russell. He was deployed to the Mediterranean for Operation Shard Guard and naval engagements against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Drug Interdiction Operations included the South Atlantic, South Pacific and Gulf of Mexico.
Herbert earned more than 30 commendations, medals and ribbons, such as Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, astronaut candidate, Meritorious Service Medal, three Navy Commendation Medals, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, NATO Medal and Kuwait Liberation Medal.
After retiring, Herbert moved to Madison in October 2008 to work as a contractor supporting the Missile Defense Agency. He chose Madison as a “small town yet with cosmopolitan feel” and great schools to insure his children “had a good education compared to what was offered in California,” he said.
He earned a bachelor’s degree at Penn State; two master’s degrees, Naval Postgraduate School; and is pursuing a doctorate’s degree with Colorado State University.
His 16-year-old son Jacob attends Bob Jones High School. His son Nathaniel of Ventura, Calif. attends Mound Elementary School.
Eric Herbert participates in Knights of Columbus, Bob Jones Band Boosters, Huntsville Literary Association and engineering associations. His hobbies are alpine skiing, camping, golf, writing and playing piano and guitar. Herbert is a SCUBA dive master and Tae Kwon Do state champ.
