William Rachal is responsible for assisting with all homeland security and emergency and disaster preparedness and response for the state of Louisiana. The agency coordinates the state’s activities to prepare for – prevent where possible – respond to, recover from and mitigate against emergencies or disaster events. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Rachal served as the senior business development manager at South Louisiana Community College. He has been a member of the Louisiana National Guard since 1989 and serves as a deputy commander, lieutenant colonel. During his two active duty tours in Iraq, he served in several assignments, including as deputy brigade commander of the 256th Infantry Brigade and deputy director of operations for the Louisiana National Guard. He commanded the 2nd Squadron 108th Cavalry in combat in Iraq. Mr. Rachal also has extensive business experience as a financial analyst specializing in strategy formulation, infrastructure financing, risk analysis and project controls.