Decorated Army veteran selected by Sheriff Couvillon for award

The Abbeville Rotary Club recently presented one of their Annual Public Servant Awards to Deputy Chad Touchet of the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Each year the Sheriff’s Office is asked to nominate someone with their department who has shown service that has gone above and beyond the call of duty.
Sheriff Mike Couvillon stated, “I want to thank the Abbeville Rotary Club for presenting this award each year. Having to choose only one deputy for this type of award is always difficult because all of our deputies took the oath to protect and serve and I believe they all work very hard. However, this type of award represents those who go beyond the call of duty to keep our parish safe.
“This year, my committee recommended Deputy Chad Touchet for this award due to his daily demonstration of professionalism, his willingness to always take that extra step in his normal everyday service to the Parish, and perhaps the most important reason; his years of service to our country. I concur with my committee's recommendation for this year’s "Deputy of The Year Award " and I congratulate Deputy Touchet.”
Deputy Chad Touchet is 43 years old and was raised in Forked Island and is a graduate of Kaplan High School, class of 1994. In July 1994, Chad entered the U.S. Army as an Infantryman and attended Basic Training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
While serving in the Army for more than 22 years, he has held a variety of positions throughout his career ranging from Rifleman, Team Leader, Squad Leader, Platoon Sergeant, and Company First Sergeant where he was in charge of more than 140 Soldiers in both peacetime and combat operations.
During his service to the nation, he has been stationed in the United States and various places throughout the world and served for more than 4 years in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
For his service in both combat and peacetime, Chad is the recipient of 3 Bronze Star Medals, 3 Meritorious Service Medals, 4 Army Commendation Medals, 3 Army Achievement Medals, the Iraqi Campaign Medal with 7 Campaign Stars, the Expert Infantryman's Badge, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, and 15 other various service awards and decorations.
In 2016 while stationed in Ohio, Chad retired from the U.S. Army and immediately pursued his desire to serve, by becoming a Law Enforcement Officer. He was quickly hired by the Ohio University Police Department in Athens, Ohio and immediately stood out amongst his peers. Chad is most proud of his accomplishments in the two years of service at the Police Department where his aggressive enforcement of the state drug laws resulted in more than 90 various drug related arrests.
Chad decided it was time return home to Vermilion Parish where he applied for a position as a Patrol Deputy and was hired on by Sheriff Mike Couvillon in October 2018. After successfully completing the St. Martin Sheriff's Office Basic Academy, and the Field Training Program, Deputy Touchet was assigned as a full time patrol deputy for Vermilion Parish.
In October 2019, Deputy Touchet was selected as a member of the Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office Special Response Team (SRT) after completing a rigorous selection and screening process. Deputy Touchet attended SWAT and Sniper Training Courses and is currently assigned as the Team Sniper.
In February 2019, Deputy Touchet was also selected to serve as a Field Training Officer for the Sheriff's Office where he will be responsible to train new Deputies selected to work in the Patrol Division.
Chad is married to Jetsy Touchet where they reside in Maurice with their three children, 21 year old Christian who attends South Louisiana Community College, 16 year old Mia who attends North Vermilion High School, and their new baby Noah.