Missouri Attorney General and combat veteran Andrew Bailey spoke to Warrenton High School seniors Nov. 13 as a part of Charter Spectrum and the History Channel’s Take a Vet to School program. 

Bailey cut his teeth as an Assistant Prosecutor in Warren County before ascending to Governor Mike Parson’s legal staff and eventually being appointed Attorney General in 2022. He earned a full term in that office during the Nov. 5 election. 

He began his address by quipping that the Warrenton High School students looked happier to be at the assembly than the citizens summoned for jury duty he used to meet with in the morning’s in Warrenton. 

Bailey, who was raised in Columbia, attended the University of Missouri on an ROTC scholarship and told students while he originally planned to attend law school right after finishing his bachelor’s degree, he put those plans on hold following the terrorist attacks on 9/11. 

“I remember sitting and watching those events unfold on national television and realizing that the trajectory of my life was forever altered,” said Bailey. 

Following his graduation, he was commissioned into the Army as an armor officer, working on crews for M1 Abrams Tanks. 

He conducted his tank training at Fort Knox in Kentucky before he reported to the third Armored Cavalry Unit at Fort Carson, Colorado where he deployed to Iraq. 

In his first deployment he was sent to northwestern Iraq where his unit helped secure small towns in the Nineveh Province and train Iraqi Police and Border Patrol near the Syrian Border. He was also involved in retaking the town of Tal Afar in 2005 when it was overrun by insurgents. 

“We evacuated civilians and then we spent several weeks fighting city block by city block in the middle of town, and so it was some really intense fighting,” said Bailey. 

On his second deployment he would spend 15 months at a base south of Mosul, where he said he was in command of 13 platoons, roughly 300 soldiers and $100 million worth of equipment. 

“I say all that to say this, in my early 20s, I went from college where (I was) studying, having fun, to a situation where people’s lives were dependent upon the decisions that I was making on a daily basis,” said Bailey. 

Following his second deployment he transitioned out of the army and used his G.I. Bill to attend law school. From there he would intern for several prosecuting attorney’s offices and the Attorney General’s office before he was offered a job as an assistant prosecutor by then Warren County Prosecutor Kelly King. 

“It was an honor and a privilege to get to work here in Warrenton as an assistant prosecutor with some of the best law enforcement officers and agencies in the state of Missouri,” said Bailey. 

From his position in Warren County he ascended from the Governor’s legal staff to the highest legal office in the state as Attorney General. 

He said his experiences in the army helped prepare him for the role just as much as law school, making him a stronger leader and providing him with the skills necessary to operate the office. 

Following his remarks he took questions from students about his time in the military and his legal career. 

Students asked about his experience in the military and how it translated to law school following his exit from the army. He said the discipline he learned in the military helped to guide him through the next stages of his life. 

“I’m here to tell you personal accountability and self-discipline are principles that will serve you well in adulthood,” said Bailey. 

He was also asked how he makes high pressure decisions, both when he was in the army and now as the Attorney General. 

“A good decision now is better than a perfect decision later,” said Bailey, paraphrasing General George Patton.” And I think that’s true in the military, and I think that’s true oftentimes in decision making in stressful situations as well. 

Warren County R-III Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith was glad that the students were able to hear from such a high-ranking state official, especially one who spent so much time working here in Warren County. 

“Hopefully they take away the idea that this is somebody from our town that has really achieved great things, and anyone can do this,” said Klinginsmith. “If you put your mind to it, work hard, all those cliches, that this is an opportunity for our kids, that they could be at that same level.”