My sister-in-law is a Naval officer (and my brother, her husband, a former Marine intelligence officer). They both are pretty disgusted by the way things are run - which is why my brother left the Marines. The people at the top are the most political, brown-nosing, and not especially smart sorts, while anyone coming up who is actually intelligent, thoughtful, and driven will likely have their career stalled by those above who don't want the competition. There is a massive brain drain in the military which likely exacerbates many problems.