BATON ROUGE- The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has promoted Lt. Col. Sammy Martin to Colonel, which is the highest ranking position in the Enforcement Division.

Col. Martin, 57, has been an agent for 35 years. He will take over for the recently retired Col. Joseph "Joey" Broussard. Col. Broussard served the department for 27 years with the last three as a Colonel.

In a release, LDWF Secretary Jack Montoucet said:

“On Sept. 21, I selected Lt. Col. Sammy Martin to take over as head of the Enforcement Division. With more than 30 years of experience and dedication to LDWF, I am confident that Col. Martin will do a great job in enforcement’s top leadership position. My decision was made after assessing interviews of candidates, consultation along with the direction I and Col. Martin envision for the future of the enforcement division.”

Col. Martin has received numerous awards during his career including LDWF's Outstanding Agent of the year in 1992, three Meritorious Service Awards and the Chief's Award in 2014.