After graduating from East Ascension High School in 1979, Rick began his career in the Louisiana petrol-chemical industry prior to enlisting into the U.S. Army in 1984.  While serving with the Military Police Corps he worked as a liaison to King County, WA and the Vernon Parish, LA Sheriff’s Offices. He has been a member of joint task forces involving the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Forestry Service.  He has performed operations NCO duties for Law Enforcement Commands at two major Army installations: Fort Lewis, WA, and Fort Polk, LA.  He completed tours of duty with the Office of Military Cooperation, Kabul, Afghanistan and Joint Task Force Bravo, Honduras before retiring from the U.S. Army in 2004.  

    After retiring Rick worked for the Department of Defense at Fort Jackson, SC as a Six Sigma project manager, doctrine developer and training developer for the Soldier Support Institute, which forms the proponents of the Adjutant’s General Corps, Finance Corps, and the Recruiting Command of the U.S. Army.  

     Upon returning home to Louisiana, he worked for the Department of the Navy in a command advisory role aligning human resource needs to the strategic goals of the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Command, the 8^th Marine Corps District, and the Naval Ambulatory Care Center in New Orleans.

     Since January 2007 Rick has performed as the director of the Ascension Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.  Additionally, he has been selected to represent GOHSEP Region II as the regional director, is a current member of the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Association, the International Association of Emergency Mangers, and has been credentialed as an EMAP assessor.

     Rick has an Associate of Science Degree in Business Studies from Vincennes University, Vincennes, IN, a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Coker College, Hartsville, SC, an MBA from Webster University, Saint Louis, Missouri, and Six Sigma certifications from the Management Development Institute of Missouri State University, Springfield Missouri.