Executive power to nominate General Officers

[Rifleman]

Forgive me for what might sound like a nutty question to the professional officers here, but I know very little about the promotion path of officers.

It's my understanding that Title 10, United States Code requires General Officers to be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. And that the President makes his nominations based upon recommendations from the services.

So, could the President nominate an officer over that officer's superiors? Is it possible for an officer to jump several ranks?

For an extreme example: if he was interested in "shake-up," could the President ignore service recommendations and nominate a Colonel or a Brigadier for Chief of Staff or a Regional CINC?

Has anything that radical ever been done historically and been confirmed?