Boorda is notable as the first person to have risen from the enlisted ranks to become Chief of Naval Operations, the highest-ranking billet in the United States Navy.

[citation needed] Boorda dropped out of high school to enlist in the United States Navy in 1956 at the age of 17; it provided a structure he at first disliked but came to appreciate.

[5] 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.

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".

Naval War College and also earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Rhode Island,[1] Boorda assumed duties as Executive Officer, USS Brooke, a guided missile destroyer.

In October 1972, the Seventh Fleet, including Boorda's ship departed for Vietnam; his second tour began in November 1972 and ended on February 19, 1973.

The medal was approved by the Commander, Seventh Fleet, and the citation read: "for meritorious achievement as Executive Officer while attached to and serving in USS BROOKE (DEG 1) from 15 December 1971 to 20 February 1973 including combat operations".

As CINCSOUTH, Boorda was in command of all NATO forces engaged in operations enforcing United Nations sanctions during the Yugoslav wars.

[citation needed] On February 24, 1996, he attended the christening and launching of USS Pearl Harbor at the Avondale Shipyard located on the west bank of the Mississippi River near New Orleans, Louisiana.

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.

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.

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.

To meet those requirements, the navy expanded its oceanographic efforts from traditional platforms (ships, boats, planes) to new technologies (satellites, remote sensors, etc.

[13] Durenberger raised questions over Arthur's possible mishandling of sexual harassment allegations brought by one of the Senator's constituents, Rebecca Hansen, a female student naval aviator who had not successfully completed flight training.

Reports at the time of Boorda's suicide indicated that his wearing of the two "V" devices on the two service ribbons had not been an intentional deception on his part, but had been an unintentional mistake that resulted from his following verbal instructions delivered to commanders during the Vietnam War by Admiral Elmo Zumwalt when he was Chief of Naval Operations, as well as conflicting interpretations and updating of Navy award regulations.

[20] Newsweek later reported that "Hackworth believed that wearing an undeserved combat pin for valor was a grave matter of honor in the military, 'the worst thing you can do.'"

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.

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'.