03/21/2026
Statement from the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI
On the Passing of Director Robert S. Mueller III
March 21, 2026
The Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI mourns the passing of Director Robert S. Mueller III, who died on March 20, 2026, at the age of 81.
At a time when many young men sought to avoid Vietnam, Bob Mueller volunteered for the United States Marine Corps. He earned a Bronze Star for heroism and a Purple Heart in combat. That willingness to step forward, to shoulder the hardest assignment, to serve without complaint never left him. It defined him. And it was exactly what the FBI needed when he walked through the door.
Director Mueller began his tenure just one week before the September 11 attacks. What followed was one of the most consequential transformations in the Bureau’s history. He rebuilt the FBI into a counterterrorism force capable of meeting the demands of a new and dangerous era. The standard was brutal and unforgiving. Preventing 99 out of 100 terrorist plots was not enough. He accepted that standard and led accordingly.
The men and women of the FBI who served under Director Mueller knew what he was. They saw the Marine in him every day. In his bearing, his expectations, his refusal to cut corners, and his absolute commitment to the mission. He asked a great deal of the people around him because he asked even more of himself.
To Ann Mueller and the entire Mueller family, the thousands of men and women who proudly served as Special Agents of the FBI extend our deepest condolences. Your husband, your father, your family member gave his life in service to this country, in uniform and out of it.
That sacrifice does not go unrecognized. We are grateful. We are honored to have served in the institution he shaped. And we will not forget him.