Hello Con Pilot, I do believe that there were a number of "rifted" Commissioned Officer's initially as the Air Force was long on pilots and had someplace to put them. Maybe not all crews had that but a significant amount showed up in the ranks.
Yes, before the Viet Nam war there were thousands of officers riffed in the Air Force. A lot did stay in as enlisted men for retirement reasons, as after they retired, they would retire at the highest commissioned rank they had held.