It appears from your comment that you are either a current or former Marine officer. While your experience with AF officers may be limited your comments are spot on. For AF officers, and senior NCO’s, promotion is more about how you look than what you accomplish. Don’t get me wrong, I have known and worked with some exceptional AF officers and senior NCO’s but even they have to game the system in order to advance.
That is why, IMHO, the CBPO toads got the promotions (enlisted) over the guys on the line, as they knew the system.
For officers, it was a different game. See my previous post.