Jeremy Michael Boorda Jeremy Michael Boorda ( November 26 , 1939May 16 , 1996 ) was a United States Navy admiral who served as the 25th Chief of Naval Operations . Boorda is notable for being the first American sailor to have risen through the enlisted ranks to become the Chief of Naval Operations . Boorda died in 1996 , of an apparent suicide . Early life and education . Boorda was born in South Bend , Indiana to Gertrude and Herman Boorda into a Jewish family . His family moved to Momence , Illinois , where his father had a dress shop . His grandparents had immigrated from Ukraine . 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 use . He attained the rate of Personnelman First Class . Boorda served a variety of commands , primarily in aviation . His last two enlisted assignments were in Attack Squadron 144 and Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 11 . Marriage and family . When he was nineteen , Boorda married Bettie Moran . Their first son David was born with severe disabilities . They had two more sons , Edward and Robert , and a daughter named Anna . Naval career . Boorda was selected for potential commissioning under the Integration Program in 1962 , by which non - commissioned men were admitted to the Navy ' s Officer Candidate School in Newport , Rhode Island . After graduating , Boorda was commissioned as an officer in August 1962 . He first served aboard USS " Porterfield " ( DD - 682 ) as combat information center officer at the rank of lieutenant junior grade . After attending Naval Destroyer School in Newport , in 1964 was assigned as weapons officer , USS " John R . Craig " ( DD - 885 ) . His second tour off the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam War was as commanding officer , USS " Parrot " ( MSC - 197 ) . Boorda ' s first shore tour was as a weapons instructor at Naval Destroyer School in Newport . In 1971 , after attending the U . S . Naval War College and also earning a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Rhode Island , he assumed duties as Executive Officer , USS " Brooke " ( DEG - 1 ) . That tour was followed by a short period at the University of Oklahoma and an assignment as head , surface lieutenant commander assignments / assistant for captain detailing in the Bureau of Naval Personnel , Washington , D . C . . From 1975 to 1977 , Boorda commanded USS " Farragut " ( DDG - 37 ) . 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 Twenty - Two . In 1983 and 1984 , he served as executive assistant to the Chief of Naval Personnel / Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower , Personnel and Training . In December 1984 , he assumed his first flag officer assignment as executive assistant to the chief of naval operations , remaining until July 1986 . His next assignment was commander , Cruiser - Destroyer Group Eight in Norfolk , Virginia ; he served as a carrier battle group commander embarked in USS " Saratoga " ( CV - 60 ) , and also as commander , Battle Force Sixth Fleet in 1987 . In August 1988 , Boorda became Chief of Naval Personnel / Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower , Personnel and Training . In November 1991 , he received his fourth star and in December 1991 , became Commander in Chief , Allied Forces Southern Europe ( CINCSOUTH - Naples , Italy ) and Commander in Chief , U . S . Naval Forces , Europe ( CINCUSNAVEUR - London ) . As CINCSOUTH , Boorda was in command of all NATO forces engaged in operations enforcing United Nations sanctions during the Yugoslav wars . On February 1 , 1993 , while serving as Commander in Chief , Allied Forces Southern Europe , Boorda assumed the additional duty as Commander , Joint Task Force Provide Promise , responsible for the supply of humanitarian relief to Bosnia - Herzegovina via air - land and air - drop missions , and for troops contributing to the UN mission throughout the Balkans . On April 23 , 1994 , Boorda became the 25th Chief of Naval Operations and was the first who was not a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and was the first Chief of Naval Operations of Jewish descent . Seaman to Admiral . Boorda was a product of an enlisted - to - officer commissioning program in the early 1960s . This program known as the Integration Program 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 three such modern service chiefs ( the others being Air Force General Larry D . Welch 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 that " people should have the opportunity to excel , and be all they can be , even if they don ' t get a perfect or traditional start . " C4I . 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 place 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 Jan 14 , 2006 , nine years after Boorda ' s death . Enlisted advancement system . 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 evaluatory mark . The new system also linked each promotion marking to the advancement system . Littoral oceanography . 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 littoral s , or near - shore areas : tidal pulse s , beach profiles , reefs , bars , shallows , shoals , channels , sediment transport , fine - scale hydrography , turbidity , land cover and terrain , dust , traffic , rain rates , river runoff , sub - bottom characteristics , and biologics , 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 . Stan Arthur incident . In the wake of the Tailhook scandal , Boorda faced unrelenting hostility from a majority of Naval flag officers who believed he had betrayed the Navy by allying himself with Clinton administration demands for reform of the Navy ' s officer corps . Naval aviator s , in particular , were incensed by the treatment of Stan Arthur ( Vice Chief of Naval Operations and senior Naval aviator ) , whose nomination for the post of Commander , United States Pacific Command was withdrawn by President Clinton at the behest of Senator David Durenberger of Minnesota . 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 was attrited from flight training . The administration expected protracted hearings to ensue over Arthur ' s nomination , and the Pacific Command position to remain unfilled during this period ; Arthur decided to retire from the Navy on February 1 , 1995 as a four - star admiral . Boorda issued an unusual public defense of Arthur and his decision not to fight for the nomination , saying Death . Boorda died on May 16 , 1996 from an apparent suicide , after allegedly shooting himself in the chest . The autopsy results were never released to the public . Boorda reportedly also left two suicide note s ; neither of which were released publicly , but the notes were said to have been addressed to his wife and to his Public Information Officer . He was reported to have been distraught over a news media investigation , led by David Hackworth of " Newsweek " , into two Combat Distinguishing Device s ( Combat " V " ) he wore on the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal service ribbon s on his navy uniform . The " V ' device is a miniature bronze letter " V " worn on suspension and service ribbon s of certain medals and ribbons , indicating valor in combat ; the media report claimed that Boorda was not entitled to wear them . Boorda was said to have been worried that the issue would cause more trouble for the U . S . Navy ' s reputation . Former CNO Elmo Zumwalt , who was Boorda ' s commander during the Vietnam War and who authorized these devices for Boorda and many others , wrote a letter to the effect that Boorda ' s wearing of the devices was " appropriate , justified and proper . " However , wearing a Combat " V " on a decoration required written authorization for the device on the award citation which required personally receiving enemy fire in combat . At the time of his death , Boorda was survived by his wife , Bettie Moran Boorda , four children , and 11 grandchildren . A public funeral was held at the Washington National Cathedral that was broadcast nationally in CNN with tape delay broadcast on C - Span network . Review . In 1998 , one of Boorda ' s sons requested a review of his service record . The Board for Correction of Naval Records , the ultimate arbiter of whether or not Boorda was entitled to wear the Combat " V " on both medals , determined that he was not . Legacy . Boorda has two sons and one daughter - in - law who are naval officers . He has three 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 , and Phillip Boorda is an amphibious assault vehicle officer in the U . S . Marine Corps . 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 . Boorda was born into a Jewish family , but did not practice Judaism , nor did he assert a Jewish identity while serving in the U . S . Navy . After marrying a Christian woman , Boorda and his wife raised their children as Protestants . Boorda was buried with a tombstone marked with the Star of David as is customary for U . S . military personnel who were known to be Jewish .