Lieutenant Colonel
General Staff Judge Advocate
Bronze Star
LTC Bentley E. Story earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and was commissioned a distinguished military graduate as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1971. He went on to graduate from the University of Memphis School of Law with his Juris Doctor degree.
LTC Story served on active duty as the Command Judge Advocate, Headquarters, U.S. Army Security Agency, from 1974 to 1977. He was the legal officer for contract reviews for the Army Security Agency Material Support Command, giving legal approval for over $50 million in ASA procurements.
LTC Story served in the Reserve Component from 1977 to 1999. He mobilized in 1990-91 for Operation Desert Storm serving as the general staff judge advocate for the 332nd medical brigade of the VII Corps in Saudi Arabia. While there he provided legal advice and services for the Brigade Commander, 56 subordinate commanders, and more than 5,000 soldiers. He was awarded the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medal, and the Bronze Star. He returned from the war to serve with the 332nd Medical Brigade in Nashville, the 3rd MED COM in Jackson, Miss., and the 125th ARCOM in Nashville.
In 1983, LTC Story was sworn in as chancery judge for the First Judicial Circuit of Arkansas, making him the youngest sitting circuit judge in the state. He was reelected unopposed five times and after 32 years he retired in December 2014 as the longest-sitting circuit judge in Arkansas at that time. He is a past president of the Arkansas Judicial Council and the first recipient of the Arkansas Judicial Council’s Community Service Award.
He and his wife, Linda Jones Story, also a 1971 A-State graduate, live in Forrest City and have two grown children, Emily and Bentley, and three grandchildren.
