LaCerte served in the United States Marine Corps Infantry . Shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001 , he was deployed to Afghanistan under the command of General James Mattis . LaCerte led over 100 combat patrols and missions in Afghanistan and Pakistan and served on interrogation teams for high value Al Qaeda targets . LaCerte is a graduate of Nicholls State University and Paul M. Hebert Law Center . He joined the LDVA in 2010 as Deputy Secretary and Executive Counsel under Secretary Lane Carson . Following the retirement of Carson , LaCerte served as the Interim Secretary of LDVA until the appointment of former US Representative Rodney Alexander in September 2013 . LaCerte was appointed by Governor Bobby Jindal as Secretary after Alexander resigned on June 3 , 2014
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
David LaCerte