Japanese naval aviation offered a field in which exceptional skill and training seemed capable of offsetting an opponent's greater numbers. The selection system accepted roughly the best ten percent of candidates and rejected the rest. It then directed the highest-rated aviators toward strike aircraft, followed by reconnaissance and finally fighters. Even the fighter pilots came from that very selective intake. This ordering identifies strike aviation as the demanding priority in the early system.
Notable Point · 2:14-3:41
Early pilot selection reserves the best candidates for strike aviation
An elite intake is divided again, with strike aircraft receiving the highest-rated pilots before reconnaissance and fighters.