We could get away with picking officers based upon things other than leadership ability, character and fighting talent but I don't think we can do that anymore. We got away with it up until the end of the Second World War because we had the oceans between us and the rest of the world and as importantly the Royal Navy sailed upon those oceans to keep the world away and help us hugely when we needed it. The war ended and the Royal Navy was there no more. But that didn't matter because the war had broken everything in the world outside the Western Hemisphere and it took them decades to catch up.
Now they have caught up and our fighting services will be called upon to fight without the Royal Navy and the time and options it gave us. That lack of time and options will have to be made up by the ability of our fighting services to fight, effectively, especially the Navy. The ability of our services to fight depends directly upon the quality of the officer corps and how its members are selected and promoted. Though we probably will we really can't afford to dink around anymore.
Also, I don't see how good character isn't prerequisite for any officer in the services whether that officer is a civil engineer, passes out socks or maybe leads one of my nephews into battle.
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