In Star Trek Beyond, shortly after the Enterprise arrives at the space station Yorktown, Captain Kirk has a conversation with Commodore Paris, in which she informs him that Starfleet has sent her his application for the "Vice Admiral" position at Yorktown.
But as the following graphic shows this would mean a promotion by three ranks.
[Source]
It was said that the Enterprise was 966 days into it's five-year mission at the beginning of the movie, so Kirk has been Captain for about 3 years.
As Vice Admiral he would outrank Commodore Paris, who looked much more experienced (I'm basing this merely on her age, but I think it's fair to assume she has served more years than Kirk).
My Question:
- What did Kirk do in those 3 years that would merit such a promotion?