Steve Huber of Byron served in the U.S. National Guard from 1979 to 2012, including 26 years of active duty. His service included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and he reached the rank of brigadier general.

Huber grew up on the north side of Chicago. After college and with influence from his U.S. Army veteran father, he decided to enlist in the National Guard for a few years to better himself. He later went to officer candidate school and went on to become a platoon leader, company commander and battalion staff member. He worked in operations and logistics, in command at battalion brigade, and deputy command at the division level. He retired as a brigadier general.

Huber was deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and to Afghanistan from 2008 to 2009. In Iraq, he was embedded with a Polish division. Every U.S. National Guard unit has a sister or brother country.

“When Iraq broke out, Poland agreed to go as one of the coalition countries to join the U.S., and they asked for Illinois, so we went,” Huber said. “There were about 13 years of that rotation, and I was the second one to go with my team.

“We were just below Baghdad. That was a year. I was the assistant chief of staff. You’re just doing staff work for the division, and they were doing patrols and nation building-type stuff.”

Huber’s deployment to Afghanistan was with the 33rd Infantry Brigade, where he was in charge of 10,000 troops spread all over the country. He said serving on those deployments put his years of training to the test.

Being away from his family was difficult.

“I think it’s harder on the family than the person that goes, depending on what they’re doing,” Huber said. “When you’re over there, you’re so focused on the mission. The people back home are dwelling on you being there and the things they have to deal with at home.

“Poland asked Illinois to go. I agreed to go. I was asked to lead up the team. It’s what you train for. Most military members look forward to that day to do something like that. That’s the mindset you’re in. You want to go and do well, and represent the country well.”

Upon enlisting into the military, Huber didn’t know he had a desire to be an officer. He’s glad he took the chance and he found gratification in leadership and doing what he’d been trained to do. He sees his deployment to Afghanistan as a culminating event in his military career after so many assignments and schools.

Huber found himself always working toward the next responsibility in the military.

“When I went active duty full time and I became an officer, I figured I could make major and retire, and maybe make lieutenant colonel and retire at 20 years and do something else,” Huber said. “And then one thing leads to another, and you see the next rank and stay a little longer. I don’t regret any of it. I’d still be doing it today if I could.”

Huber, now 71, has lived in Byron since he was in his late 30s. Since his retirement, he’s worked as a contractor for the Department of Defense, now the Department of War, as a trainer for the past 13 years.

That work allowed Huber to stay connected to the military, working with soldiers and getting them ready for deployments. He may return to that work in the future under a new contract.

Huber’s time in the service gave him an appreciation and understanding for how large of a machine the military is. He recalls being deployed as a general and realizing how small the things he was dealing with were compared to the people above him.

The military saw advancements and change under different presidents during Huber’s service. He started in the post-Vietnam War era and saw funding increase, along with more training requirements and improvements in technology, equipment, logistics and weapons.

Huber’s service taught him that character is everything.

“If you lose that, you lose your ability to lead,” Huber said. “You have to be competent and be willing to do what you’re ordering others to do. I am very glad I started as an enlisted private and knew how that felt. I saw the military from different perspectives.”

As Veterans Day approaches, Huber feels pride. He’s part of the Byron American Legion, so he spends Veterans Day each year celebrating with other veterans and speaking to younger generations in the community to help them understand what service and sacrifice mean. During his deployment to Afghanistan, Huber saw the loss of 43 service members.

“I remember every one of them,” Huber said. “Their death or loss of life wasn’t in vain. It was for something bigger. And that’s why they went. It means something.”

“Honoring our American Hero” is a feature on local veterans that runs twice a month in the Rochelle News-Leader. To submit a veteran or service member for consideration, email Jeff Helfrich at jhelfrich@shawmedia.com.