Veteran Salute: Keeping the Kansas Army National Guard connected

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Serving throughout the Sunflower State and overseas, Topeka native Del-Metrius Herron ensured vital communications stayed operational all across the Middle East.

When the specialist originally began looking into the service a little over a decade ago, she approached that process with a focus on the future.

"I went to just about every single branch of the military," Herron said, "presented them with my situation cause I was a primary parent at the time, the sole provider of my son. When I was talking with the National Guard recruiter I just felt listened to. I felt like everything that was important to me in order to join, they provided."

Herron joined with the guard at a unique time in the organization's history.

"I walked into a field artillery unit," she said. "Back in 2013, this was around the time that women started going into combat arms. I was one of the first women in my unit, there were two others when I got there. I learned everything from radio systems, satellite systems, electronic systems, basic computer admin work. However, once I got into the field it was a lot different. In field artillery, it was a lot of communication systems. I learned I had to adapt. Essentially anything from making sure they had internet service and that their computers were set up, all the way to making sure that the HIMARS launchers had radio communications, I really did it all."

A pivotal moment during Herron's deployment overseas put her unit in a challenging position.

"We were going into a remote area, and we were setting up," Herron said. "The other organization that was there before us had torn down essentially where they were, and we had to get comms up in about 24 hours. So literally soon as we got boots on ground we had to get everything up, because you have to understand in combat if people can't communicate, somebody dies. We essentially had to get comms up for not just for our operations, but also for the launchers and get everyone in order, not only so we could communicate with each other, but so we could communicate with other people on the base that were there from all echelons of military service and foreign service."

The skills she honed throughout her years of service would be put to the test during Operation Spartan Shield and Inherent Resolve, missions with the goal of supporting specific regions and relations in the Middle East.

"My main contribution during those two missions was to support communications," Herron said, "and make sure that whatever they needed as far as radio, satellite, internet service. Even just making sure that soldiers can Facebook their family, those things were just as important to me."

To this day Herron continues serving the community she grew up in, as a member on the housing community for SENT Topeka and the Topeka Community Foundation Impact Funding Committee. Additionally, she sits on the Topeka Planning Commission and the Kansas Emerging Leaders board.