Anyone ever hear of anyone who WANTED helos and didn't get them??
At least when I was going through primary, there had seemed to be a paradign shift from "People with the low grades go Helos" to "People with the low grades go P-3". Now obviously with the needs of the Navy and peoples' opinions, I'm sure that ebbs and flows, and obviously with quality spread, not ALL helo guys or P-3 guys are the dregs of flight school... often quite the contrary.
Now, I did see in the classes around my selection time (my own included), that guys who had Helos first or second and P-3s as third choice or no choice get P-3, but those guys were usually competing with other guys who had helos 2nd or 1st and the guys who got it had like high 40's/50's and the guys who got "drafted" for P-3 had... at least in one case I remember like a 28 or something ridiculously low. So to answer your question: YES it happened/s.
I also certainly saw folks like one guy who got helos which was his THIRD choice and he had a 63, so the point of this entire post is.... grades mean nothing. People get drafted all the time for stuff they don't want and other times even the biggest shitbag gets his first choice.
Naval airframe selection is like reading the goat's testicles... makes no sense at times. All you can do is do your best and throw your cards down. What really irked me is the guys who were literally on the verge of tears selection week worried about an XYZ draft and "If I don't get jets (or whatever struck their fancy, but it was usually jet-wannabes), I'm gonna DOR!"
If I were an O-5 in the front office (when hell freezes over), and I heard something to the above's effect, I'd be writing a memo personally to CNATRA recommending everything BUT what that person was crying about.
It always amazed me to hear priors especially with those kind of shenanigans. This isn't about what ENS crybaby wants. It's called SERVICE for a reason. Act like an Officer, sack up and if you don't get jets with your 63, then be happy you're flying for a living. If you can't, then DOR and good riddance.
/rant...man... I don't know where that came from.
