Air Commodore Paul Herber started his military career in 1985 as a Battery Control Officer, Short Range Air Defence. For six years he held a variety of positions in Ground Based Air Defence (Flycatcher, HAWK) at Volkel Air Base at squadron level. As a captain, he then completed an extensive list of trainings and diversified his specialties. He became a specialist in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical warfare. Consequently, his career swiftly changed to Planning and Control, and he became Chief of ICT Policy and Business Administration at Soesterberg Air Base, the Netherlands.

In 2003, he was sent on a tour as helicopter detachment commander in Bosnia. He worked at Royal Netherlands Air Force Headquarters in the department of Policy and Plans. He completed the Higher Staff Course at the Netherlands Defence Academy in 2006. He was then appointed Chief of Staff at Volkel Air Base.

He was appointed as Chief of Staff at the Netherlands Defence Academy in 2009. After spending three years at the academy, he was transferred to the Defence Staff in The Hague as Chief of Staff CFO at the Ministry of Defence. For two years he was Commander of the Netherlands Defence Security Organization, leading more than 1,600 employees. It was during this period that he completed his Higher Senior Management Course.

In 2017, Paul Herber was promoted to Air Commodore and appointed Netherlands Defence Attaché to the United States of America at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Washington, D.C. In September 2021 he was appointed as Assistant Director Joint Air Power Competence Centre at Kalkar Germany. Commodore Herber is also the Chair of the Sports Committee of the Netherlands Air Force.