It is common knowledge that John McCain 's father and grandfather were admirals in the navy. Can anyone then explain to me why John McCain never rose to a rank above a captain? I would think that his leadership in behalf of his fellow prisoners of war and his often touted military experience would earn him greater honors.

Well, see, in general people try to only promote people of competence...

For an unhappy biography of McCain you can look at the article in the recent Rolling Stone. He was close to last in his class, though, and pretty unpopular in the service.

I don't think that you should so quickly dismiss the rank of captain. Captains can hold responsibilities over thousands of men, billions of dollars of equipment, and operating budgets in the hundreds of millions. McCain particular experience wasn't on that magnitude, but reaching captain at least means it was not his rank holding him back from such a billet.

Most military officers do not reach the rank of captain (well the Navys version). It is not a small feat.

I have not seen any reliable source indicating that McCain would not make admiral. There are lots of people who claim to know, but the can't back up their claims and have in no way earned the right to be distanced from those engaging in slander campaigns.

I'm not sure that his fathers' life choices and successes reflect poorly on McCain. After all, there are a whole lot more captains as colonels out there then senators. And thank god that ones family doesn't buy rank in the military like it did earlier in our nations history.

And what might your military rank be? The same question to tribble22 and timeforsanity.

CAPT/O-6 is not a shabby rank. If he screened for command, a Captain could command a nuclear aircraft carrier. Assuming I wanted to give the rest of my life to naval service (which admittedly is not my intention at present) I'm not sure I would even want to rise higher than CAPT. Most of the Admirals I've met have been living somewhere other than the real world. A major command at sea sounds like far more fun. And don't forget that peacetime promotions are guided by a different logic than wartime ones. Maybe they just weren't making many new Admirals for a few years. That can happen.

All of that said, I don't believe CAPT McCain ever screened for or held a major command, let alone one at sea, but he did command squadrons IIRC. And to go from that to being a U.S. Senator is hardly a shameful path. Senator McCain gives people enough to dislike with his policy, which is what we should be focusing on when choosing a President. There is no need to insult the many skilled and dedicated Captains and Colonels out there just to bring McCain down another notch.

He did wear brown shoes, though. That is fair game. ;-)

I think the confusion is that, from my understanding, Captain is a much higher rank in the Navy than in the Army which is what most people are familiar with. Is that correct? But, as others suggest, it does not make you an expert on military affairs in the big picture. He claims to know about winning wars but the war he was in was one we lost.

Making Naval Captain or Colonel is nothing to sneer at as you well know Mr. quillsinister. These guys actually run your service branches and do the actually hands on commanding.

I think Captain McCain USN (Ret) was on borrowed time due to his physical disabilites and that probably prevented him from being screened for command and given a substantial career stepping-stone command. Naval Liaison to Captal Hill was his "twilight tour."

Truth be known quill, my guess is, brother John probably should have never been taken-off profile to assume his one an only command. But what the hell, eh?

I still have reservations about him, and selecting Palin set me back a ways as well. He knows her limitations, she's his bridge to the far right he needs to connect with - finally a bridge to somewhere for her. : - o

Incidentally, get a hold of one of your ugly faced counter part in green's October Marine Corps Gazette and in the aft pages read the review, Arabian Knight about Colonel Thomas Lippman USMC, America's T. E. Lawrence. Never heard of him? That's because he wanted it that way.

Fair Wind to Java Lieutenant!

It is a common misconception, which is why I specifiec CAPT/O-6. O-6 is a paygrade, which is the same for all services. And what you know really depends on what actual responsibilities you've held. By the time someone reaches that level, chances are they've probably done a joint tour (with another branch of service) and probably worked on the staff of a flag officer. So there is ample opportunity to see the big picture stuff, but what a person actually knows as an O-6 depends a lot on what they've actually done. Mileage can vary at all levels.

As for Senator McCain knowing of how to win wars, I got a chuckle out of that. We failed to win the war he was personally involved in, and he was shot down anyway, so I'm not sure where in Vietnam he'd have gained that knowledge, except possibly by seeing one way not to win a war. But even if you give him the benefit of the doubt and take him at his word, doesn't that mean that he's been sitting on the key to victory for five years and hasn't let the President in on his secret? Which one is it, Senator?

Kalimera sas, Lieutenant Colonel. I think I've mentioned before that I admired McCain greatly in 2000, and while I probably would have voted for Gore anyway (I have a soft spot for treehuggers) I was sad to see him defeated by George Bush the Younger. The 2008 campaign has been a fairly pathetic spectacle by comparison, and things like the "Straight-Talk Express" just don't resonate like they did eight years ago. Governor Palin was the last nail in the coffin.

I have a list of reservations about Senator Obama, but nothing that outweighs the thought of President Palin should Senator McCain not make it for some reason. He could have done much better. Even if he wanted to make a play for disgruntled Clinton supporters (and I do I think Obama should have named her, FWIW), Senator Huchinson would have been a far wiser choice, IMHO. At least I could trust her to do the job.

I'll check out that article. Efharisto poli. :-)

I just found out that McCain's father also graduated quite low in in class, 18th from the bottom in a class of about 450. McCain Jr. had four stars and the Pacific under his command before his career ended. That's damn impressive (as in, there are many in the service who would prefer the PACCOM over CNO) for those not in the know.

Guess that's just another example of how accurately class rank predicts one's future leadership potential.