Hogwash.
It was called an Operational Test. After its "successful" conclusion, the aircraft was declared operational.
The Marines also were careful not to say that the engine and fan R&I "demonstrations" didn't actually involve removing so much as single bolt from the airplane. They also publicly claimed every T/O and landing as a sortie, even when the jets simply circled the carrier and did touch-downs and take-offs. The real sortie rates were so low as to be completely unrepresentative of any kind of military operation.
Until the Super Guppy arrived, the USN set a world standard for qualifying combat aircraft through the Opeval - an extended trial, with set pass/fail criteria, conducted by a squadron of operational pilots who were expected to find faults and demand corrective actions that would be a condition for a pass. That's now been thrown out of the window.