An exercise pilot can seek the prestige of claiming a carrier, cruiser or capital ship without facing real defensive fire. That incentive can exaggerate the attention attackers will give to heavily defended central targets. Combat creates a different calculation when a destroyer on the edge offers a less dangerous approach. Some wartime pilots even released their weapons early and returned home. Exercise behaviour can mislead predictions of combat when prestige carries little personal risk during training.
Notable Point · 17:31-18:36
Exercise incentives and mistaken expectations of air attack
Peacetime incentives encouraged attacks on prestigious targets, distorting expectations of which ships pilots would attack under real fire.