However, just because he didn't get selected first look doesn't mean he won't get it later. Sometimes the army takes awhile to do the right thing.
I've seen some 06s I thought should be GOs make the cut - Robert B Brown is an 06 (P) I think. However there are other guys like J.R. Sanderson and Roy Waggoner that I think should have been promoted some time ago.

The question is how do you give the guys who can lead the Army (or any organization) the authority required to make the right changes in time to make "doing the right thing" something that happens before we have to pay the heaviest prices to figure it out?

I sat in on a VTC today at the AWC where GEN Petraeus spoke from Iraq. He had a great slide about creating "Leaders who get it". I think that only gets us half way though. We have to promote those leaders who get it and assign them to positions where they can affect change rapidly in order to save lives and implement winning practices. While an 06 can change a BCT and can demonstrate good practices, I think it really takes a GO to institutionalize change.

I imagine COL McMasters loves the Army as much as any and more then most. However I think he is too bright and intellectually ambitious (and I mean that in a good way) to allow the Army to keep him in a box. There are too many other fantastic opportunities for leaders of his caliber outside the Army. We often say we want one thing but our choice of spending priorities and our promotion/CMD lists would seem to indicate otherwise. As long as we follow those lines we will move forward slowly and with political risk aversion.