The Delaware Senate confirms retired Brigadier General Karen Berry as the state’s first Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Berry made history as the first female in the Delaware National Guard to hold a Brigade Command position and earn the rank of Brigadier General.
Since 2023, she has been serving as a veterans advocacy specialist at Delaware Tech’s Owens Campus after serving for 36 years with the National Guard.
The senate convened for an extraordinary session Monday to confirm several gubernatorial appointments, including Berry as the leader of the newly created Department of Veterans Affairs.
The bill creating the state-level department requires the office to be operational by July 1, 2030.
Berry says she will immediately begin conversations with her peers of similar rolls in other states to see what Delaware can learn from other jurisdictions and how it can craft its own path forward to deliver for veterans.
“I obviously will have to be working with the Secretary of State and the legislature to kind of figure out how to actually form the department and the financial parts to that we'll have to work together, and that's gonna be a big part of my role initially," Berry said.
Delaware currently has an Office of Veterans Affairs and a 10-member Commission of Veterans Affairs, both housed within the Department of State.
With the creation of the new department, run by a cabinet-level secretary, state officials and veteran leaders hope more resources will be dedicated to the 72,000 veterans living in Delaware.
Sen. Minority Whip Brian Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown) asked Berry during her confirmation hearing how she will ensure more Delaware veterans are aware of their entitled benefits, like tax credits, discounted fees and licenses and educational opportunities.
“I will use all resources that I can think of, social media, whether it's Facebook, TikTok, you name it — whatever I can do to reach out to the population wherever they are so that they are aware of things that they might not be," she responded.
Berry adds she will make it a priority to go engage directly with American Legion posts and provide more resources and support to the state-run veterans home in Milford, which has faced notorious staffing issues.
Berry was confirmed unanimously among senators present.
