Admiral Arleigh A. Burke's Contributions

Admiral Arleigh A. Burke was born on October 19, 1901, in Boulder, Colorado. Burke grew up in Boulder in a fairly difficult environment, “He attended a one room elementary school through the eighth grade and then high school…farming fitted neither his talents nor desires, he sought and received a congressional appointment to the US Naval Academy.” (“Admiral Arleigh A Burke, USN”) Upon his high school graduation, he attended the Naval Academy in June 1919, and then graduated 71 out of 413 in the class of 1923. He served 5 years on the USS Arizona (BB-39), USS Procyon (AG-11), USS Chester (CA-27), USS Antares and USS Argonne (AG’s), before he served on USS Craven (DD-382) as the Executive Officer in 1937. However, he studied Ordnance Engineering,

In Naval advancement, he used his symbol of power, title, appearance, and presence of crisis to get the government to help him make advances. He was the Chief of Naval Operations, which gave him a title and symbol of power; appearance came into play because he created positive public relations and he just happened to be the highest-ranking individual in the Navy. He used presence of crisis because the U.S. was a few years out of a world war, with global military threats still looming, to persuade the government that enhancements in nuclear power was necessary for the security of the U.S. He used all 5 bases of power, expert power because he fought in the war and had experience involving what improvements needed to be made for a stronger Navy, which also participated in legitimate power. He had referent power because he was chosen to be the CNO, not that he just took the position from someone with brute force or just happen to be in the right place at the right time. To persuade others to see the positivity in his ideas for the Navy, he used reward and coercive power by explaining that the country’s security is at stake due to global military threats. He used analytic intelligence because he took results from the war and current threats by other countries to generate ideas on weapons and power systems; used practical intelligence along with it because communism and nuclear strategy

Burke was absolutely one of the most effective leaders the U.S. Navy has ever seen. He used all 5 bases of power, from French and Raven, which is an indicator of good leadership. He was submissive to his chain of command, which also shows good leadership because one has to learn to be a good follower before becoming a good leader. Based on multiple sources, he seemed calm and collected under pressure and overcame any obstacle, which brings the conclusion that he did not have dark side traits. He used influence tactics to help improve the Navy into what it is today and improve the image of its senior leaders. Admiral Burke is a great example of effective leadership for future leaders, whether military or civilian