A neighbor growing up, commanded a submarine that grounded. I don't know for what period of time, but it did not matter. This gentleman was top shelf, heavily educated by the Navy, etc. He was reassigned to the Navy Annex, then he retired. The suburbs of the Beltway are full of stories like this. Making it to general staff level is a game of survival.
True enough. But it is different for aviators. Planes and helicopters crashing is a numbers game, I think. You fly long enough in military craft, and you are going to have some kind of mishap. Subs and surface ships are definitely different...no doubt about it.