Of course he was passed over for flag. At Commander and above, it's more or less expected that you have a successful Commanding Officer tour in rank order to p

Of course he was passed over for flag. At Commander and above, it's more or less expected that you have a successful Commanding Officer tour in rank order to promote. A few Commanders that don't get command make Captain, but it's the exception rather than the rule. And it's virtually unheard of to make flag without a successful Captain command, because there are so many more Captains than there are slots for Rear Admiral (Lower Half) that most end up retiring anyway. If your CO tour blows up in your face, it's basically a guarantee that you will be expected to retire at the earliest possible opportunity. The best quote I've ever heard on the subject is "the Navy doesn't have hospitals for careers. It has leper colonies."