IN MEMORIAM - JR., ROBERT L. KNIGHT

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005229208
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: June 22, 2015
• Document Release Date: April 3, 2008
• Case Number: F-2008-00890
• Publication Date: January 1, 2007

Deceased Name: Jr., Robert L. (U) Knight
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
Notification:
Robert L. Knight Jr. of Bealton, Virginia, passed away on 2 October 2007 from injuries incurred in
an accident earlier that day while riding his motorcycle to work.
Bob was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and was raised in Florida and Louisiana. After
graduating from the Citadel in 1975, he served as an officer in the Marine Corps for four years. He
'joined the CIA in 1980, where his first assignment was with the Foreign Broadcast Information
Service. He subsequently worked as a watch officer in the Operations Center, and as an analyst in
the Office of Imagery Analysis, the Office of Leadership Analysis, and the Office of Asian Pacific,
Latin American, and African Analysis, where he covered leadership issues of the Andean countries.
Bob joined the Office of Information Management Services in 2004, where he served on the staff of
the Director's Area Information Review Officer. Working in close collaboration with the National
Intelligence Council, over the next three years Bob was directly responsible for the declassification
of three major historical collections of national estimative reports dealing with China, the Vietnam
War, and Yugoslavia. Shortly before his death he had been selected to manage the Agency's
declassification effort in support of the State Department's Foreign Relations of the United States
series.
Bob was beloved by all who had the good fortune to work with him over the years. A dedicated and
patient mentor, he willingly made time to share his expertise and experience, guiding and assisting
the development of numerous junior officers. He will be deeply missed.
Bob leaves his wife, Ann, two sons, Brian of Bealton, VA, and Travis of Bealton, VA; his parents,
Robert L. Sr., and Norma Knight of Hanahan, SC; his brother, Bruce E. Knight of Goose Creek, SC,
and a sister, Rebekah V. Davis, also of Hanahan, SC.
Bob's co-workers provided the following recollections:
Bob joined the office of Leadership Analysis in 1995, introducing hunting season, homemade beef
jerky, and military stories to the office. Probably the only person in the DI to successfully use
"rope-a-dope" in finished intelligence, he particularly loved unraveling the mysteries of Latin
America's most colorful leaders,
After a several year stint as a Watch Officer in NMJIC (1997-1999), Bob joined the
Issue Group where he served as both a leadership and a political analyst on some of
the regions busiest accounts. Bob was a skilled writer and briefer, a patient, thoughtful mentor to
many and a friend to all during his nearly five years in the Issue Group. Fun to work with, Bob had a
knack for striking the right balance between commitment to mission, his wife and children, and the
APPROVED FOR
RELEASE DATE:
25-Mar-2008
 great outdoors.
I've thought often about Bob since his tragic passing. I worked with Bob after 9/11, when we both
wound up in the same branch in CTC. Bob kept me laughing with his grumbling about how every
terrorist appeared to have some variation of the same name. Bob's fate seemed to be to work
furiously on a report about some bad guy, only to have him turn up ours de combat. Bob kept our
morale up by taking me down to his shooting range to blast targets with his huge buffalo rifles. He
even talked me into expanding my own gun cabinet with a sweet Winchester in the cowboy caliber,
and my slogan for him became, "Bob Knight: Arming America One Man at a Time."
During the late 1990s, Bob and I went TDY to a few Latin American countries where he gladly said
that he would serve as my protector and bodyguard and I could serve as his translator. Our TDY
went smoothly of course with this wonderful arrangement, and he was a joy to travel with. One of
the more memorable thoughts I have of Bob, in addition to his wonderful sense of humor and ease in
working with him, was when our entire office in leadership went out for a buffet luncheon. I recall
.so vividly Bob's philosophy of buffets that he shared with me that, "one needs to eat enough to make
them lose money." This has been one of my favorite sayings ever since this occasion, and I have
tried to live by Bob's buffet rule ever since.
Bob was born in Charleston -- his family moved to FLA and then New Orleans where his Dad
entered the seminary for a time.. .they then moved back to Charleston for Bob to go to college. He.
.graduated from the Citadel (1975?), married Ann then joined the Marines. After serving four years:
as an XO of a 155 mm artillery battery and an
.aerial observer in an OV-10 aircraft, he joined the Agency (1980) and began with FBIS. Around
1980-81 he joined my watch team in the then DI Operations Center as a junior analyst...I was the
senior watch officer and he was responsible for the USSR, Eastern and Western Europe. He then
transferred to OIA. Following the disbanding of OIA, he moved over to LDA and then APLAA to
..cover Andean countries' leadership. {Bob was known for his} addictions to marksmanship, hunting
and Harley riding.
Bob Knight became part of the Agency's declassification effort in early 2004 when he joined the
DCI Information Review Officer's team as Associate Information Review Officer. He quickly
caught onto the arcane declassification business and became an indispensable member of the small
team putting out high profile collections of estimative products on various parts of the world (Henry
Kissinger was at the debut of one collection). As project manager for the collections, Bob provided
.quality control for those reviewing and declassifying the documents and for coordinating the
declassification team's work with the National Intelligence Council. Policy prevents the names of
.serving Agency officers from appearing on public documents or his would have figured as
prominently as anyone's in the credits in the front of the collections published during his three years
with the DCI area team. As one of his colleagues said, "Bob was incapable of doing anything but the
most professional job" and while work on the collections continues, their production will never be as
easy and the end product will never quite sparkle as when Bob was in charge.
.This is not to say that all was sweetness and light between Bob and others in the IRO branch. Bob
took such delight in telling--and retelling-the gory details of his wild boar hunt that he was
oblivious to the distress of the more sensitive of his colleagues, and Bob's attraction to Cracker
Barrel restaurants remains a mystery. For his part, Bob handled with equanimity his day-to-day
dealings with several team members who easily qualify as "grumpy old men." He also patiently
 endured un-Marine-like celebrations of birthdays, "talk like a pirate" day, spotted ear mite week,
potato day and the like, going so far to hide his distain as to play kazoos and wear silly hats. Bob
!!once admitted he had never respected and enjoyed working with a group as much as he did the IRO
shop, and his work mates enjoyed and admired him just as much.
Viewing, Memorial, and Funeral Arrangements:
A viewing was held for family and friends on 9 October at the Moser Funeral Home in Warrenton,
VA. Graveside services, with honors provided by the United States Marine Corps, was held on 10
October at the Quantico National Cemetery, Triangle, VA.
Flowers and Contributions:
Memorials may be made to: American Diabetes Association, 1025 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 1005,
Washington, DC 20036.
Component
POC:
Extension:
Notes of Condolence from Components:
Search for Individuals
Browse for Individuals Browse By Date
In Memoriam Home CIALink I How to submit an Announcement Request I Submission Policy
Questions/Comments, please let us know
3 of 3 2/27/2008 12:58 PM