I still say that serving your country should come before the job... By putting no other position you are saying either I fly, or I will consider no other service to my country. By putting a #2 and #3 you are not committing to anything. In fact, had I not gotten aviation, there is only a 50-50 chance I would have taken an intel slot (my second choice). If I wanted to serve my country in intel I would likely have applied to the best agency for that job, the CIA.
Also, I disagree with you on the dream aspect. It may be someone's dream, but the Navy has to be prudent about its choices. An applicant's motivation should be taken into account in determining what is best for the Navy. For instance, if Letchik got accepted and proceeds to fail the NAMI medical, what has the Navy gained? Likely this person will just jump ship and the Navy loses the time and $$ spent on training this person to become an officer. Furthermore, what kind of sailor would you have if this candidate washes out of Primary due to unwavering air sickness? You get someone who doesn't really want to be anywhere you are going to put them, they have already expressed this. The same could be true if they do not like the military lifestyle (since its true form is much less glamorous than the film version). There are just too many reasons why someone applying solely for their interests shouldn't necessarily be gambled on. That does not mean it should be a blanket policy to reject those who only put one job, but in doing so an applicant opens the topic of their true motives for serving our country as a member of the Navy (not the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, etc.). This would make any such application with marginal test scores, grades or recommendations that much more marginal if I were on the selection board.
JP