This, precisely.
Unfortunately, I don't know if anyone in our current-day pussified military could handle such a thing.
I suppose I have to disagree here... and run the risk of jumping on the "UPT sucks bandwagon thats rolling right along here"...
My view is not that UPT doesn't create good pilots, because obviously it does. But a better approach would be the question how Primary AND UPT can create BETTER pilots than they do now.
I don't know if data exists that says Primary or UPT does a better job of producing pilots... I seriously doubt that good data is available because the programs are so different and because the needs are so different for each service. So I'll refrain from going down that road...
All services obviously have a vested interest in producing pilots that can operate under a higher than normal level of stress. A4s says 'lets bring back the screamers'... I will be the first to agree that someone screaming behind you telling you that you suck is a great way to generate stress, but that matters very little if it doesn't produce a quality pilot. I would argue that you might end up producing a worse pilot... this based on what we know of behavior and learning sciences...
Take the analogy of a dog (analogies are all inherently imperfect so bear with me)... if you have a puppy which shows great promise for being a working dog, is assertive, has good energy, drive, and temperament and then you give him to a heavy handed handler you can break that dog, and turn what would have been a great working dog into a timid animal who may be unpredictable, and might not even make a good house pet. By contrast if you give him to a handler that finds ways to encourage his learning, and supportive, while still being stern you may end up with a dog capable of military / police work.
Am I saying that you are going to create crappy pilots if someone screams at you? ABSOLUTELY NOT... obviously great pilots have been produced that way... but in the past 20 years HUGE advancements have been made in behavior / learning sciences and for the military to ignore those advancements would be dangerous. We hold onto our traditions tightly in the military, and for good reason, our traditions connect us nub ensigns to you crusty old guys, and to those who are no longer with us... but to perpetuate a less effective way of training simply because "thats the way we did it in the good ol' days" is unprofessional. Our enemies will change their tactics and training techniques based on new information and scientific developments... it would be good of us to do the same...
Anecdotealy I can say that I fly and more importantly LEARN better when instructors don't scream and yell... maybe I'm not tough, but I would rather learn as much as I can in flight school, using the most up to date techniques than be able to tell stories about what an ass hole my onwing is...
We know that Primary and UPT produce quality pilots, thats proven by our country's track record in aviation and particularly combat... the goal should be to produce better pilots, always better pilots... and sometimes achieving those goals might be achieved by unconventional, or less obvious methods...