The old marching tune that “there are no fighter pilots in [any of the services but the Air Force]” isn’t entirely true (though the Navy calls theirs “aviators,” since “pilots” drive the boat).  However, in the short term, the Navy is having some issues creating pilots:

With hundreds of newly commissioned officers waiting to start flight training in Pensacola, Fla., the Navy is urging potential aviators to transfer into other communities or take temporary internships in Washington.

Apparently, aircraft issues (maintenance) have reduced the number of available aircraft, thus reducing the size of the Navy’s flight school pipeline.  But that’s not the only cause:

Other changes in the operational fleet also reduced the demand for aviators…

It would appear, then, that while the “backlog” is “temporary,” they are still looking to “draw down” the total number of aviation students.  Without enough volunteers, this will be fixed by reducing future student classes (read: There will be fewer Navy pilot slots over the next year or two) and kicking out the low performers:

If volunteers do not step forward seeking transfers, the backlog will be thinned by reducing new accessions into the aviation community and by weeding out poorly performing aviators during the training programs, White said.

For the uninitiated, this should beg the question: Wouldn’t the Navy “weed out poor performers” anyway, regardless of the current climate?

Therein lies an interesting fact in military training:  When the demand for the product is high (whether a pilot or an infantryman), it sometimes seems all assistance will be given to help (or even push) students through training.  When the demand is low, the acceptable standards rise.

In the past, an interesting Air Force metric has been eyesight.  When the demand for pilots is high, waivers to the Air Force requirement for near-perfect vision are given out like candy.  When the demand for pilots is low, few (if any) waivers are given.