Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Terence Edward "Terry" McKnight,

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, is a former American naval officer who commanded a multi-national naval force tasked to confront piracy activities off the coast of Somalia.

Educational background

Terence E. McKnight, is from

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. He graduated from the

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

in May 1978. In May 1998, he completed his master's degree in International Relations at

Salve Regina University Salve Regina University is a private coeducational Roman Catholic university in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was founded in 1934 by the Sisters of Mercy and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. The univer ...

. He also graduated from the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a United States Army, U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle B ...

in 1994 and attended the National Security Seminar at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in 2001.Official United States Navy Biograph

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Sea duty

Among Admiral Mcknight's early sea duty assignments were, the , , and

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

of the . He commanded the from January 1995 until November 1996 and the from July 2002 until December 2003.

Shore duty

A number of his duties ashore included, serving as Assistant Lieutenant Commander Detailer at the

Bureau of Naval Personnel The Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) in the United States Department of the Navy is similar to the human resources department of a corporation. The bureau provides administrative leadership and policy planning for the Office of the Chief of N ...

(BUPERS), an Aide and Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Naval Personnel, Surface Warfare Officers School, Command Training Department as Head Expeditionary Warfare Instructor, the

Office of the Secretary of Defense The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out au ...

(OSD), Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower & Reserve Affairs), the Office of

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...

N6/N7, and Executive Assistant to the

Under Secretary of the Navy The under secretary of the navy is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Navy. The under secretary reports to the secretary of the navy (SECNAV). Before the creation of the under secretary's office, t ...

. McKnight eventually served as the 85th Commandant of Naval District Washington (which is the oldest continuously operated Navy installation in the nation), and the Deputy Commander of the

Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

Last assignment

In September 2007, he began his final assignment as Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group 2. Admiral McKnight commanded a new multi-national naval force to confront

piracy off the coast of Somalia Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Indian Ocean, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places and has a long troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. I ...

. This new anti-piracy force was designated Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151), a multinational task force of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). In the summer of 2009, Admiral McKnight retired from the Navy.McKnight's Official Website http://www.admiralandthepirates.com/terrymcknightbio.html

Postmilitary career

In October 2012, he authored a book on maritime piracy entitled ''Pirate Alley: Commanding Task Force 151 in the Gulf of Aden'' which was published by the Naval Institute Press.Amazon's listing for Pirate Alley https://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Alley-Commanding-Force-Somalia/dp/1612511341 McKnight is currently employed by

Cobham plc Cobham Limited is a British aerospace manufacturing company based in Bournemouth, England. Cobham was originally founded by Sir Alan Cobham as Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL) in 1934. During 1939, British airline Imperial Airways performed ...

, a British defense contracting company as vice president for government relations at its subsidiary, Cobham's Defense System Division.

Honors and awards

McKnight's personal decorations include the

Navy Distinguished Service Medal The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military decoration of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919 and is presented to Sailors and Marines to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritorio ...

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

Defense Meritorious Service Medal The Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, it is worn between the Purple ...

, Meritorious Service Medal,

Navy Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

, Navy Achievement Medal, as well as various other unit awards and decorations. Surface Warfare Officer Insignia

Surface Warfare insignia

Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge The Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge is a Military badges of the United States, military badge issued to members of the United States armed forces who are permanently assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) ...

References

External links

New Counter-Piracy Task Force Established
article
Terry McKnight's Lecture
at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and research library for the study of military history located in a state-of-the art facility in Kenosha, WI. The institution was founded in 2003, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKnight, Terence E. United States Navy admirals Recipients of the Legion of Merit Living people 1956 births