After completing his schooling and serving on the USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641), he was selected for the Navy Enlisted Scientific and Education Program and attended the University of Kansas.
He also served at the Naval Submarine Training Facility (Pacific) with duty stations in New London, CT; Charleston, SC; Vallejo, CA; and Pearl Harbor, HI.
He retired from military service as a Captain in 1985 and, in the same year, graduated from Webster University with a Master of Arts degree in Computer Resource Management.
[4] Herpin was originally appointed to an at-large council seat in March 2006 to complete the term of a member who had resigned.
He was elected to a full term in April 2009 as the representative of District 4, which covers the southeast quadrant of the city.