Адмирал Боорда: путь от матроса до начальника военно-морских операций.

American admiral (1939–1996)

Boorda was born in South Bend, Indiana, to Jewish parents, Gertrude (Frank) Wallis and Herman Boorda. His family moved to Momence, Illinois, where his father had a dress shop. His grandparents had immigrated from Ukraine. When he was 19, Boorda married Bettie Mae Moran. Their first son David was born with severe disabilities. They had two more sons, Edward and Robert, and a daughter named Anna. Boorda was selected for potential commissioning under the Integration Program in 1962, by which enlisted sailors were admitted to the navy's Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. Boorda was commissioned as an ensign upon graduating in August 1962. He first served aboard Porterfield as combat information center officer at the rank of lieutenant junior grade. In 1964, he attended the Naval Destroyer School in Newport. In October 1964, Boorda was assigned as weapons officer aboard the destroyer John R. Craig. The destroyer deployed to Vietnam in March 1965 and participated in combat missions and operations off the coast of Vietnam until it departed for San Diego on August 11. On August 15, Boorda was recommended for the Navy Commendation Medal by his commanding officer on John R. Craig. On August 28, the Commander in Chief, U. S Pacific Fleet, approved a lesser award, the Secretary of the Navy Commendation for Achievement (redesignated the Navy Achievement Medal in July 1967). The citation read: "for meritorious service while serving as Weapons Officer in USS JOHN R. CRAIG (DD 885) while operating in combat missions supporting the Republic of Vietnam from 10 April to 10 August 1965". After the destroyer arrived in San Diego in September, Boorda served as commander of Parrot. His first shore tour was as a weapons instructor at Naval Destroyer School in Newport. In December 1971, after attending the U. S. Naval War College and also earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Rhode Island, From 1975 to 1977, Boorda commanded Farragut. He was next assigned as executive assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), Washington, DC. He relieved the civilian presidential appointee in that position, remaining until 1981, when he took command of Destroyer Squadron 22. After this, Boorda spent an additional period studying at the Naval War College from September to October 1983.

Boorda was a product of an enlisted to officer commissioning program in the early 1960s. Known as the Integration Program, this was designed to provide an opportunity for enlisted personnel who possessed outstanding qualifications and motivation for a naval career to obtain a commission. Boorda was the first Chief of Naval Operations to have risen from the enlisted rates, one of only four such modern service chiefs (the others being Air Force General Larry D. Welch, USMC General Alfred Gray, and Army General John Shalikashvili). Upon assuming this position, Boorda immediately re established the historic program, naming it "Seaman to Admiral", as part of a STA 21 initiative for young sailors to earn their commission and become naval officers. Boorda believed "people should have the opportunity to excel, and be all they can be, even if they don't get a perfect or traditional start."

Boorda was particularly interested in C4I initiatives to place command and control, communications, computers, and intelligence assets on naval ships. Essentially this manifested itself as more robust combat information systems, with improved satellite and communication links, as well as placing more defensive assets on traditionally non combatant ships such as support vessels. Boorda initiated efforts during the proposal phase for the future LPD 17 amphibious class to be fitted with first class C4I suites, radars, communications, and defense systems anti torpedo, anti missile, and anti NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical), along with blast hardened bulkheads that will absorb and dissipate much more punishment than is possible with present designs. This effort was a departure from past efforts, which relied on simply assigning a destroyer or cruiser to provide these functions for amphibious forces. The ship was commissioned January 14, 2006, nine years after Boorda's death.

Boorda also spearheaded efforts to change the U. S. Navy's officer fitness report, enlisted evaluation, and enlisted advancement systems. The new systems were more systematic and consistent. The systems also allowed a more concise rating of an officer's or sailor's advancement potential. This rating allowed a command to mark only 20% of officers or sailors as "early promotes", and set strict grading criteria for each evaluation mark. The new system linked each promotion marking to the advancement system.

Boorda signed a policy for naval oceanography (the first such revision in 10 years), which emphasized, among other things, that, in addition to deep water missions, naval oceanographers must master the complicated tangle of the oceanographic/geographic subject areas that make up the science of the littorals, or near shore areas, as well as the complex weather patterns characteristic of any coastal area. Boorda's vision brought the navy's new focus on littoral operations into alignment with naval projection policies. But this new program also created a large backlog of high priority oceanographic, hydrographic, and geophysical survey requirements. To meet those requirements, the navy expanded its oceanographic efforts from traditional platforms (ships, boats, planes) to new technologies (satellites, remote sensors, etc. ), and efforts to work with other national and international agencies.

Boorda has two sons and one daughter in law who are naval officers. He has four grandsons who served in the U. S. military: Peter Boorda was a petty officer in the United States Coast Guard, Andrew Boorda is an armor officer in the U. S. Army, Phillip Boorda is an amphibious assault vehicle officer in the U. S. Marine Corps, and Robert Dowling is an intelligence officer in the U. S. Army. Andrew and Phillip are twins, and like their grandfather, both graduated from the University of Rhode Island. In addition, Boorda has a step grandson who also graduated from the University of Rhode Island and is a field artillery officer in the U. S. Army. In Joe Biden's 2007 book Promises to Keep, Biden recounts his experience of interacting with Admiral Boorda. Boorda met with Joe Biden in 1993, while serving as commander in chief of Allied Forces Southern Command, to advise the then Senator on the military situation in the Balkans. Biden had been attempting to persuade the Clinton administration to intervene militarily to stop the genocide in Bosnia, but had been met with resistance, due to the widespread perception in Washington that any U. S. military intervention in the Balkans would have to involve significant numbers of ground troops. Boorda, however, argued that U. S. air power 'could shut down the Serb aggression and could end the sieges in Sarajevo and Srebrenica' without the need for a costly and unpopular commitment of ground forces. Biden credits this conversation with Boorda as being 'the last piece of the puzzle', enabling him to successfully make the case for intervention in Bosnia to Clinton. In his book, Biden is effusive in his praise of Boorda, calling him 'truly heroic', including him in a partial list of 'the twenty brightest, most informed individuals I've worked with in government', and referring to his suicide as 'a blow to the country'.

The Navy's annual Admiral Boorda award was established and first awarded in 2003. The award recognizes a Navy military and civilian individual. The call for nominations for the 2015 award indicated that the award was intended for those who have made significant contributions towards Navy personnel readiness either through research or analysis or the direct application of analytical results to policies and laws.