Finestkind - you are right and it is probably the difference between FJ and RW streams - in the RW world we are happier to invest more time and effort in what is already a well-trained product - the FJ world seems to have always been happy to be a funnel with a big top and a very small bottom so that only the quickest assimilators of skills get through.
Personally I think this is a waste of manpower and our obsession with having the best of the best is not very efficient - lucky we don't have many cockpits to fill any more
This starts at OASC - or whatever it is called today - I was informed by one of their staff that just passing aptitude tests wasn't enough any more - they were only recruiting from those who score in excess of 30 points above the pass mark.
Trouble is, as I'm sure someone will point out, the training system has been fiddled with and slowed down too many times and is only just (certainly on the RW side) starting to function properly.