Hubstrasse, indeed once they get over the crushing blow of being chopped, and the loss of any direction in their career, they often have a feeling of relief as that pressure has been removed.
Military flying training is like an increasingly steep slope. Most can manage the first part then the pace picks up until they reach a wall. Later, with out the pressure, in a different situation they succeed. I knew two navs, one became a helo pilot the other fixed wing although later killed himself.
Look at the number of fast jet navs that cross over to civilian pilot.
Echoing TTNs story, one nav on our course eventually got pilot training and went to Buccaneers before going Civi.