KlingonBC, the example your post puts me in mind of is the Fleet Air Arm Officers' Association, which for years has quietly and efficiently run a gliding scholarship scheme based on Royal Navy gliding & soaring clubs - as I understand it, FAAOA members sponsor a place on an ab-initio task week for a suitable young person. Often, FAAOA members arrive in their own aircraft during the course to give a powered flying experience to the course.
Cuts the flying well, well away from service politics during a time of shrinking budgets and increasing risk-aversity. Fails to keep a huge career pyramid erect, but that is no bad thing at all.