Robert Cassilly (politician)

Cassilly attended the Johns Hopkins University where he was a member of the ROTC program.[2] After graduating in 1980, he was commissioned as a Regular Army officer in the United States Army and served on active duty from 1980-1985.[3] Upon transferring to the Army Reserves, Cassilly began studying law at the University of Baltimore.[2] While attending law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Dana M. Levitz of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. After graduating from law school with honors, he served as a law clerk to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

From 1989 until 1995 he practiced law in Baltimore City, initially with the firm of Irwin, Kerr, Green, McDonald and Dexter and then Law Office of William A. McDaniel.[4] He opened his own law practice in Bel Air, Maryland in 1997 and practiced there until 2006 when was deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Army.[2][3] Upon his return from Iraq, he served as an adviser and trainer at the Army National Training Center in California.

From December 2007 until August 2013, Cassilly was employed by the U.S. State Department as a Senior Adviser in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Senior Strategic Planner in U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq, Acting Director of Stability Operations at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, VA, as senior governance adviser in Karbala Province, Iraq, and as senior adviser to the Bureau of Conflict Stabilization Operations, in Washington, D.C. He was awarded the State Department Superior Honor Award and Expeditionary Award for service in Iraq. In 2013 he returned to the practice of law as a litigator in Maryland state and federal courts.[2]

Cassilly has been a part of Harford County politics for nearly two decades. Cassilly served as a member and chairman of the Harford County Republican Central Committee from 1990 to 1996. From 1997 to 2002 he served as a councilman and then Mayor of his hometown of Bel Air, Maryland. He stepped down from the town council in 2002 to run for a position on the Harford County Council. Cassilly won election to the Harford County Council as the representative from district C, which includes the town of Bel Air and the area around the town.[5] He served in this capacity until being deployed to Iraq as a member of the Army Reserves in January 2006.

In 2014 Cassilly returned to politics. This time running for a seat in the Maryland State Senate. He ran in district 34, which had been vacated by former Senate Minority Leader Nancy Jacobs. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary [6] and went on to defeat his democrat challenge by 14 points in the general election.[7] At the same time his younger brother Andrew, was elected as a State Delegate in district 35B and his older brother, Joseph, won re-election as Harford County State's Attorney.[3] Both Bob and Andrew were re-elected in the 2018. Joseph retired in 2017 after having served as 34 years as Harford County State's Attorney [8]

Cassilly serves as the Maryland State Senator for District 34, Harford County. He is a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee; Joint Committee on Federal Relations; Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review; Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy; Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure; and Veterans Caucus.

In 1976, Cassilly enlisted in the Maryland Army National Guard and served with the 20th Special Forces Group until 1978. He was an ROTC cadet at the Johns Hopkins University, from 1976 to 1980, graduating in 1980 as an ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate. He was then commissioned as a Regular Army officer in the United States Army. He graduated with honors from the Army Airborne School and from the Army Ranger School. He served as an active duty Infantry officer from 1980-1985 when he transferred to the Army Reserves. As a member of the U.S. Army Reserves, he served as a JAG with the 10th Legal Support Organization and as an International Law Officer with the 352nd Civil Affairs Command. In 2006, he deployed to Iraq with the 352nd and was assigned to the 101st AB Division. He was awarded the Bronze Star, State Department Meritorious Honor Award, Iraq Campaign Medal, and National Defense Service Medal for his service in Salah ad Din Province, Iraq.