Sorry, this is a bit off-topic, but I'm going to actually disagree with this to some extent. In the Naval Services, we're used to bucking the chain; this has even been codified in the US Marine Corps doctrine of distributed operations and maneuver warfare [*]; the idea is that the people on the ground know the local situation best, so empower them to make decisions in accordance with the overall commander's intent. Sure, you understand that those decisions aren't going to be perfect, but that's ok. In this way, RDML Hopper was following a long and noble tradition of the United States Navy.