Thud,
I do not know the officer of whom you speak. I do know that if you don't put good people into recruiting and training, all you succeed in doing is dragging everyone down to the same level of mediocrity. I am reminded of my time at the Towers (on a GE), when there was only one member of staff who went on to be relatively senior (gp capt) and even he was uninspiring. And a JP QFI who was barely able to fly the aircraft well enough to teach - a Victor co-pilot deemed unsuitable for command but whose ineptitude was acceptable as a handicap for those at the earliest stages of their flying careers. As ye sow....