Rear Adm. Terry McKnight, USN (Retired)

About Rear Adm. Terry McKnight, USN (Retired)

Rear Adm. Terry McKnight served as commander, Expeditionary Strike Group 2, from 2008 to 2009 and was the first commander of Combined Task Force 151. He is the author of “Pirate Alley – Commanding Task Force 151 off Somalia.”


Recent Posts By the Author


Opinion: Doing the Most with the Least; the Coast Guard Dilemma

Opinion: Doing the Most with the Least; the Coast Guard Dilemma

National Security Cutter Munro completed builder’s sea trials in August. HII Photo

No other service over the last decade has been hit harder by budget cuts and sequestration than the U.S. Coast Guard. In a time when our maritime services have been asked to do more with less, the Coast Guard has been engaging increased maritime threats with its leanest force in decades. Read More

Opinion: Commonality Drives Savings in Shipbuilding

Opinion: Commonality Drives Savings in Shipbuilding

The future John P. Murtha (LPD-26). Huntington Ingalls Industries photo.

The future John P. Murtha (LPD-26). Huntington Ingalls Industries photo.

Certainly commonality is not the final and only answer to cost savings. Given the current national defense priorities and a request by the President of $583 billion for defense in Fiscal Year 2017, most would surmise that, if properly prioritized and managed, the budget would be sufficient to support the majority of defense requirements. Read More

Opinion: Coast Guard Budget Reductions Puts U.S. at Risk

Opinion: Coast Guard Budget Reductions Puts U.S. at Risk

A Coast Guard Cutter Stratton boarding team investigates a self-propelled semi-submersible interdicted in international waters off the coast of Central America on July 19, 2015. US Coast Guard Photo

A Coast Guard Cutter Stratton boarding team investigates a self-propelled semi-submersible interdicted in international waters off the coast of Central America on July 19, 2015. US Coast Guard Photo

In his 2015 State of the Coast Guard Address, Commandant Paul Zukunft said, “Since 9-11, 450,000 Americans have died from drug use and drug violence . . . we have actionable intelligence on approximately 90 percent of known maritime drug movement . . . however, with too few surface and air assets to patrol the vast expanses of the transit zone, they can only attempt to target, detect and disrupt 20 percent of that known flow. You can do the math—this is an issue of capacity.”

So what happens when you reduce that capacity? Read More

Opinion: The Forgotten Fleet of The U.S. Coast Guard

Opinion: The Forgotten Fleet of The U.S. Coast Guard

The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf departs from Dutch Harbor May 9, 2011, to continue its first Alaska patrol in the Bering Sea. US Coast Guard Photo

The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf departs from Dutch Harbor May 9, 2011, to continue its first Alaska patrol in the Bering Sea. US Coast Guard Photo

Over the past few years there has been much debate in Congress and in the Department of Defense over the requirement to maintain a Navy fleet that will be able to respond to the increasing demands of the combatant commanders. Read More

Opinion: Choosing San Antonio for Next Generation Amphib is the Right Decision at the Right Time

Opinion: Choosing San Antonio for Next Generation Amphib is the Right Decision at the Right Time

A landing craft air cushion prepares to enter the well deck of landing transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19) on Oct. 27, 2014. US Navy Photo

A landing craft air cushion prepares to enter the well deck of landing transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19) on Oct. 27, 2014. US Navy Photo

Over the past several months the Navy’s requirement to replace the Whidbey Island/Harpers Ferry-class LSD amphibious warships has been debated. The San Antonio-class LPD-17 hull form was a favorite of many. Gen. James Amos—former Commandant of the Marine Corps—referred to the LPD-17 hull as “the most successful hull we have” at a Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus breakfast in April. Read More

Opinion: U.S. Navy Entering New Future of Electronic Warfare

Opinion: U.S. Navy Entering New Future of Electronic Warfare

An artist concept of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) and both variants of the Littoral Combat Ship using the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP). Lockheed Martin image

An artist concept of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) and both variants of the Littoral Combat Ship using the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP). Lockheed Martin image

In the ever-evolving saga of defense budget cuts and sequestration, the cruise missile threats to our surface fleet are not standing still. As we have seen in instances ranging from the Israeli patrol boat INS Hanit attacked off of Lebanon in 2006 to the cat and mouse games that are played during each and every Strait of Hormuz transit of U.S. Navy forces, the anti-ship cruise missile threat is growing and we cannot afford to lose our advantage to counter these multi-dimensional threats. Read More

Opinion: Nation Must Preserve Shipbuilding Industry

Opinion: Nation Must Preserve Shipbuilding Industry

USS San Antonio (LPD 17) prepares to moor in Norfolk, Va. in 2013. US Navy Photo

USS San Antonio (LPD 17) prepares to moor in Norfolk, Va. in 2013. US Navy Photo

In the 1960s our nation was fixated with President John F. Kennedy’s vision to have a man on the moon before the end of the decade. The country was wholly supportive of his goal. With bipartisan support from Congress, the government approved the funding for NASA that was needed and the nation’s “best and brightest” engineers and scientists flocked to the space industry. Millions of Americans were glued to their television sets in July 1969 and cheered when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, and the words of Astronaut Neil Armstrong will always be remembered as he made that first step on the lunar surface: “That’s one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.” Read More

Opinion: U.S. Amphibious Forces Are Key to Nation's Security

Opinion: U.S. Amphibious Forces Are Key to Nation’s Security

A scene from the USS Bataan (LHD 5) on Oct. 25, 2013. US Navy Photo

A scene from the USS Bataan (LHD 5) on Oct. 25, 2013. US Navy Photo

As American forces moved toward Japan in February 1945, the U.S. Marine Corps fought one of the most famous battles in our nation’s history on the island of Iwo Jima.

After four days of intense fighting, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal decided to leave the comforts of his quarters on Adm. R.K. Turner’s flagship, the amphibious force command ship Eldorado, to go ashore and witness firsthand the final stages of the Marine Corps’ success on the island. Read More

Opinion: The Navy Has Long History of Anti-Piracy Operations

Opinion: The Navy Has Long History of Anti-Piracy Operations

Lt. Stephen Decatur with the crew of USS Enterprise on Dec 23, 1803, in a painting by Dennis Malone Carter.

Lt. Stephen Decatur with the crew of USS Enterprise on Dec 23, 1803, in a painting by Dennis Malone Carter.

In the early years of this nation, President Thomas Jefferson found himself involved in one of the first conflicts overseas in the First Barbary War.

Jefferson, one of the first true isolationists, was reluctant to deploy forces in foreign engagements. However, faced with the demanding security of our merchant fleet and the growing concerns regarding our fragile economy, Jefferson had no choice but to protect the free flow of commerce and deploy the Navy. Read More

Opinion: Seapower is An American Priority

Opinion: Seapower is An American Priority

Sailors watch as the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) departs Naval Station Norfolk for Newport News Shipbuilding in June 2013. US Navy Photo

Sailors watch as the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) departs Naval Station Norfolk for Newport News Shipbuilding in June 2013. US Navy Photo

In September 1960, the carrier Enterprise was christened at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock. Adm. Arleigh Burke, then chief of naval operations, spoke to the large crowd, saying, “Whenever the Enterprise roams in the traditional freedom of the seas, she is the sovereign of the United States, a mighty symbol of our determination to preserve liberty and justice and a clear sign of our nation’s ability to do so.” Read More