The US Navy is short almost 100 fighter pilots

No worries... they'll probably just tell the lower percentile of Nuke Power selectees to expect orders to Pensacola. That, or they're going to "fulfill the dreams" of a hundred Mids at the Academy who are history majors with a 2.5 and would've been on their way to SWOS. We call it the "pendulum" for a reason. In about five years... they'll get worried why there are so many DORs and attrites... and make the program even harder.

Not sure this is as bad a problem as it sounds. Perhaps an earlier article about Warrant Officers can help bridge the loss. Flight Sergeants, or whatever they were called, were around as pilots without being commissioned.