- This article is about a fictional representation of a real world subject.
Admiral Boorda was the 25th Chief of Naval Operations who oversaw the development of the Arsenal Ship Project in the 1990s, until his unexpected death on May 1996, prior to the Phase II design. The project was then cancelled, freeing up the Pentagon's Black Budget, and allowing the development of Metal Gear REX to proceed undelayed. Though the CNO's death was officially ruled as suicide, rumors to the contrary circulated at the time.
Behind the scenes[]
The Chief of Naval Operations is first mentioned in the in-game novelization, In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth, included with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The dubious nature of his suicide, especially in connection to the development of Metal Gear REX, was originally intended to have more focus, with Scott Dolph's speech including references to it, although these ended up cut from the game. According to Hideo Kojima's "Grand Game Plan," ArmsTech, led by Kenneth Baker, assassinated the CNO and made it look like a suicide.
This character is later identified as the real life 25th CNO, Admiral Boorda, in the Arsenal Ship Project article of the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database. While Boorda did commit suicide in real life, the actual reason was reportedly due to him being upset about a media investigation into the legitimacy of his having worn on his uniform two service ribbons with bronze "V" (valor) devices, which were generally perceived to indicate heroism in combat.
Sources[]
- In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth
- Metal Gear Solid 4 Database ("Arsenal Ship Project")
External links[]
- Jeremy M. Boorda on Wikipedia