I've served in a combat zone with several DIRCOM Intel types including FlyinSpy. They were superior in every respect
Pugs: $20 inbound via Paypal...
In all seriousness, though, we can all hypothesize any number of reasons why someone like George P might choose to pursue the route he has. Even if his motives were purely selfish and along the lines of "enhance future political viability", I can't say it really bothers me that much. Why? Because the Navy will get it's pound of flesh, eventually. Even if you served the absolute bare minimum commitment, the Navy comes out ahead on the deal. It's low cost, and because the selection filter is kind of high, it doesn't attract many (any?) dirtballs.
Take for example the Hill staffer who gets his ear whispered into by the Navy legislative liaison about the DIRCOM intel program. He rogers up, gets whisked through the process, and presto - shake-n-bake naval officer. Now, does the Navy get their ROI (that's return on investment) from blood sweat and tears deckplates DIVO leadership? Hell no. It gets it when the Defense Authorization bill comes up, and there's that extra EA-18Gs the Navy was hoping for. Or the Milcon $$ that they didn't really "deserve", but got anyway because of a discretionary call on the part of a staffer. Anything extra the Navy gets in the way of production is gravy. Has the Navy, in a Machiavellian sense, come out ahead on this deal? You betcha. When they commission a prior Service E, they get a hard charger who is motivated, dedicated, and bleeds Navy Blue. When they commission an idiot savant (me again...), they get 18 years professional experience for an O-3 <8 wages.
When ENS George Bush finishes his oath, the Navy will have gotten a) a good PR source, b) an extra split-second of consideration when the Pres is thinking about defense issues, c) a mechanism by which they can get the ear of the President (indirectly) while the Bush family is swapping turkey at Thanksgiving dinner, d) a mobilizable body, e) some cheap help that can, after a spin-up period, probably contribute some useful man-hours to the Cause. If George P is motivated and interested, he could easily find himself in the Sandbox within a couple of years - he wouldn't be eligible any earlier than that. What you do in the Reserve intel community is heavily dependent on your degree of self motivation; you can coast and do essentially nothing, or you can lean forward and get yourself into some cool jobs. So far, I've been the poster boy for "cool jobs", and have loved every minute of it. (Almost.)
Are there gaps in military professional knowledge or leadership skills among this cohort of DIRCOMs? Sure, but they are leavened out by what they are bringing to the table. Leadership and management skills are learned traits, and you don't necessarily have to run the Yellow Brick Road or survive Plebe Year to learn them.
Big Navy has it figured out - there are no free rides, and the ROI on both sides pretty much evens out. As Flash mentioned, they're not looking for URL types to throw into the breach. They're looking for (already) skilled labor that has some real life experience and maturity (there are no 22 year old DIRCOMs) that they can throw a uniform on, run through some rudimentary training, and expect it to stick.
Of course the Corps never plays political games when it comes to recruits........
