First secretary of Veterans Affairs nominated

Gov. Matt Meyer has nominated Brig. Gen. Karen Berry to be Delaware’s first cabinet secretary for the newly created Delaware Department of Veterans Affairs.

Berry retired from the Delaware National Guard in 2023 following more than three decades of service. She recently served as director of the Joint Staff for both the Delaware and Connecticut National Guards. Her awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Delaware Conspicuous Service Cross.

In addition to her military career, Berry is a retired educator who taught mathematics for 25 years in Delaware schools before serving as a mathematics specialist at Sussex Central High School in Georgetown. Since 2023, she has served as a veterans advocate at Delaware Technical Community College Owens Campus in Georgetown.

Berry said she is humbled and honored to be nominated for secretary, which will need Senate confirmation.

“Delaware’s veterans have given so much to our state and our nation. As secretary of Veterans Affairs, I will work every day to ensure they receive the care, respect and opportunities they have earned. This department is a promise kept, and I look forward to serving those who served us,” she said in a press release.

On Aug. 13, Gov. Matt Meyer signed into law a bill creating the new Veterans Affairs Department, which will provide services for the state’s more than 70,000 veterans. At the time, he said he had a short list of candidates for the secretary position.

In choosing Berry, he said she is a leader Delaware veterans deserve.

“She has worn the uniform, commanded with distinction at home and abroad, and dedicated her civilian career to education and service. Her lived experience, her leadership and her lifelong commitment to veterans make her the ideal person to launch this new department,” he said in a statement. “Delaware veterans will now have one of their own advocating for them at the cabinet table, and I look forward to her confirmation by the Delaware State Senate.”

Berry began her military service in ROTC at the University of Delaware, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering technology. She later earned a master of education in mathematics from Salisbury State University, and a master of strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Berry was commissioned in 1990; she has served as commander of the 261st Signal Brigade and deployed to Afghanistan as deputy commander of the 335th Signal Command. She is a member of the National Guard Associations of the United States, Delaware and Connecticut, as well as the Signal Corps Regimental Association and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.