Arguably moronic, if as appears he disclaimed responsibility for the failure, and even criticized the captain and crew of the Sides for failing to replicate it. At the time of the incident, it appears he had driven his ship into Iranian territorial water, in violation of international maritime law, on an invalid pretext in violation of a direct order from fleet.

At least he was "passed over for promotion to flag rank", and retired three years later, at age 53. One wonders how much responsibility he admitted in his book, "Storm Center: A Personal Account of Tragedy & Terrorism". His wife might not have been exposed to the pipe bomb somebody put in his minivan just a year after the incident, had he demonstrated any contrition at the time.

Of course he was passed over for flag. At Commander and above, it's more or less expected that you have a successful Commanding Officer tour in rank order to promote. A few Commanders that don't get command make Captain, but it's the exception rather than the rule. And it's virtually unheard of to make flag without a successful Captain command, because there are so many more Captains than there are slots for Rear Admiral (Lower Half) that most end up retiring anyway. If your CO tour blows up in your face, it's basically a guarantee that you will be expected to retire at the earliest possible opportunity.

The best quote I've ever heard on the subject is "the Navy doesn't have hospitals for careers. It has leper colonies."

Commanding officers at shore training commands are mostly there work on their golf games and sign administrative paperwork. The real lessons come from people with not even half his experience. Even a former CO that allowed this to happen is probably better to teach basic tactics than a Lieutenant who has done maybe two sea tours, honestly.