Captain Philip E. Knight
Commanding Officer, USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19)
14 July 2025
Captain Knight is a 1998 graduate of Appalachian State University and was commissioned through Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida.
A Surface Warfare Officer, his sea duty assignments include Second Division Officer in USS Essex (LHD 2); Main Propulsion Division Officer in USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3); Assistant/Future Operations Officer (N3A/N35) on the staff of Commander, Amphibious Squadron Four; Operations Officer in USS Carter Hall; and Executive Officer of USS Oak Hill (LSD 51). He commanded USS Squall (PC 7), USS Firebolt (PC 12) and USS Oak Hill (LSD 51).
Ashore, Captain Knight served as a Navigation, Seamanship and Shiphandling Instructor within the Fleet Training Department (N72) at the Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS); as a Global Force Management (Surface Operations) Action Officer at U. S. Fleet Forces Command (USFFC); as Flag Aide/Executive Assistant to Commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center (CNRMC); as a Project Officer at the Surface Maintenance Engineering Planning Program (SURFMEPP); as the Commanding Officer of Troops and Assistant Chief of Staff for Manning and Manpower (N1) on the staff of Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic (CNSL); and as a member of the Joint Staff, J7 Deployable Training Division (DTD).
Captain Knight earned a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island, and a Master of National Security Policy from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. He is also Level III certified in Program Management from the Defense Acquisition University and a graduate of the Joint and Combined Warfighting School at the Joint Forces Staff College.