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.