This keeps coming up

[nrgburst]

 A Commander is privy to classified intel; a Captain is not. Just to clarify for those with no military background, THAT'S WHY SHE WOULDN"T TELL HIM. HE DIDN'T HAVE THE CLEARANCE AND WAS NOT ENTITLED TO KNOW. 

Here's a great article about that arc in the film. 

Comments

[nrgburst]

HE DID. And he didn't get why he did the wrong thing until he'd fucked it up multiple times, which aaarrrggghh how many second chances does a cocky dude get? (Society says a hell of a lot, so art imitating life, I guess.)

Whatever. It's the trope talking too, I think, and people just EXPECTED the story to play out with the funny, flashy upstart being better than his superiors despite evidence to the contrary.