Sounds like he was at the end of his career, no matter what. So many people just don't brown nose enough to make O-6+One of my best friends is a pilot in the Air Force. He's approaching 15 years and is retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. When he notified his CO he asked him what it would take to keep him in the force and his response was "massive systemic changes in how the American military operates". I rofl'ed really hard when he told me that.