I thought Trump was CIC.
Silly me.
The military services have their internal procedures but the President absolutely may override them and decide who to appoint or not appoint as a commissioned officer (the higher ranks requiring Senate confirmation).
President Trump IS CIC, but he has also said repeatedly that he trusts the Generals and Admirals and other officers to know what’s best for their branches. He’s not like LBJ, who famously said of our troops in Vietnam: “Those boys can’t hit an outhouse without my permission.”
This isn’t a CIC-level decision. It’s up to the people “in the field.”