I don't get it. It's been a long time since I was doing this kind of stuff, but we used to enter the break at the ship in a similar way quite often. Of course a Sierra Hotel break was not always possible or appropriate. For example, when returning from a 35 or 40 plane Alpha strike with the pattern full of aircraft , we entered between 250 and 350 knots and made a normal break to downwind so as to fit in with the existing traffic. The idea was to slot into your place in line without any unnecessary gap to the plane ahead but also without extending upwind very far which would cause an extended downwind leg and that burns up precious fuel. It was all about judgement and it was a low stress event, if you can consider any landing on a carrier "low stress".
However, when returning from the Northern BARCAP in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam Conflict, we left station only after being relieved by the guys from the subsequent launch. Consequently, we were last to recover and often the ship was waiting for us having already recovered all the other aircraft except the ready tanker and the helo. The pattern was empty and the ship was eager to complete the recovery without delay. In that case, my flight of two normally approached the ship in a steep decent with the leader's power set just above idle (to give the wingman something to work with) and the oil cooler door open which produced a wonderful howl which was the hallmark of the F-8 Crusader entering the break at high speeds. The goal was to arrive at the ship just above flight deck altitude, close aboard the starboard side so the guys on the 0-7 level in the island could get a good view.
You wanted to look your best because it reflected on your squadron reputation. People were watching, so if you were the wingman you tucked in as tightly as you dared and then got even a little bit closer to the leader, hoping that you didn't touch him and wind up in a big ball fo flaming metal. How embarrassing that would be. And the leader tried to be silky smooth, giving his wingman the best chance to fly a really tight formation. If you were good at it, you hit the break with ultra smooth maneuvering and little or no throttle movement. Airspeed would be right around 600 knots or a bit more, making close formation flying even more challenging. There is a reason the Blues and Thunderbirds fly around at about half that speed.
When abeam the island, the leader and wingman would break together in a 6.5g "fan break", throttle at idle, and speed brakes out. The wingman would use a bit less g in order to gain a little separation at the 180.
The idea of lighting the burner in the break, as this F-35 pilot apparently did, makes no sense. The idea is to slow down, isn't it? The F-35 pilot in question, it seems to me, entered the break too slowly and lit the burner in order to sustain a high g turn to downwind. I don't get it.
Back to my Sea Story. So after 180 degrees of turn you find yourself at the 180, usually with too much speed to lower the gear and (in the case of the Crusader) raise the wing. You turn in anyway and when you slow sufficiently you configure your fighter for landing somewhere around the 135 or 90 degrees to go. We had APC but using it it was optional. However, knowing if it was engaged or not was NOT optional. I always read the landing checklist, EVERY TIME. And I never had a gear-up pass or a ramp strike caused by not knowing the configuration of my airplane.
That seems rather obvious and at first glance it seems as though it would be pretty simple. But flying a high performance fighter is rather complicated and not everyone can do it well. That's why it's so important to place the best people in the cockpit based on their ability and (as someone once said) the "content of their character". Using gender or skin color or any other social metric to assign fighter pilots is no way to run a military force.
Bottom line: When appropriate, making a Sierra Hotel break is normal and it's surprising that any fighter pilot operating around the ship who achieved the rank of Lt. had never performed one. Something isn't quite right. It sounds to me like this guy was in over his head and found himself performing a maneuver everyone in his squadron should find easy enough to complete safely. You don't like a 650 knot break? Enter at 550 knots. Can't hack a 7g break, use a 6g turn. Can't configure the airplane for landing by the time you hit the groove if you're too hot at the 180? Break a little bit long or extend your downwind and accept a "long in the groove" grade by the LSO.
I admit I'm out of touch with the modern Navy. However, if you can't keep up with airplane well enough when things get busy to the point that you cant perform the landing checklist and/or you don't know if you're in APC or not, it's time to ask them to transfer you to flying the COD or some other less challenging job, isn't it? Folks who don't measure up when it comes to showing off around the ship will NEVER measure up if they ever find themselves in real combat.
Don't try being a "hot dog" if you're really a "hamburger", or in this guy's case a "cheeseburger". I don't know if fighter pilots still use these terms, but you get the point. Said another way, "The don't wind 'em as tight as they used to".