That was management experience, not executive experience. There was a long chain of higher ranked officers above him that he was taking orders from.
Command is a combination of executive and management experience and is great training for taking the lead during a crisis.
And in the field not one of the so called higher ups is there to make a decision.
My statement still stands.
If all you want is experience then get a previous VP (after all they do so much more than a President does)