Melchett01 - You have hit the nail on the head, but unfortunately it is your true namesakes (their Airships) who make the promotion game what it is. You see in their world, real Gentleman don't have careers or skills, they merely command those that do. So when Bloggs demonstrates a penchant for organising Polo matches or fiddling with Boy Scouts (despite the fact he couldn't find his arse in the dark with both hands) He clearly has the edge over some bright thing whose only ability appears to be to fly more operational NVG hours in the sandbox than his boss has total time, or has let his 3 tours of 'stan in the last 12 months get in the way of supporting Mess activities.
The powers that be reinforce their own jaded view of the service, because blow me down, the bugger$ who get the recognition then begin to believe that extra curricular activities are the key to success, and soon become the people making these decisions for other people, thus perpetuating this attitude. You should try the Army, and a couple of hundred years of inbreeding at senior levels if you think the Air Force has it bad.