I was a heavy driver in today's Air Force who went from heavies to fighters on AD, and plenty more have done it both on AD and in transitioning to a Guard/Reserve unit. I never agreed with the decision to bring in the T-1 vs the T-38, for many reasons - and crossflow ability is one of them. USAF leadership made decisions that hinder you ability to crossflow, these current pilots didn't - but your attitude seems more directed at them than the leadership. There are traditions and heritage reasons for why they do what they do, and good on them for maintaining those traditions. We could learn a lot from the pilots of the past.
Amongst the fighter community lives depend on this thing called mutual support, and mutual support is supported by camaraderie, and camaraderie is supported by silly games such as pointing with your elbows, etc.
We apparently have plenty of guys who will be willing to jump in a single-engine turbo-prop and fly behind enemy lines in a low-altitude high-threat area - knowing all the while that if they get shot down or hit a bird, they are on their own and if captured will suffer a horrific death. If they want to play any games in the bar, I am all for it. That group of guys would be doing something and putting themselves in harms way that 99.9% of this USAF will never have to, and I am willing to give them whatever credit they deserve. If I was making the manning decisions on this aircraft, I would pick the most lean-forward pilots I could find regardless of background - they'll need that attitude.
There is a time and place for showing up at CP and getting your flight plan, sitting in a comfortable seat in flight eating your container lunch, and landing somewhere and drinking beer. Unfortunately, if this aircraft comes through, these guys won't have that luxury while deployed. They will have their own fears and stresses and you won't understand or give them credit for how they decide to relieve them, you'll mock them instead. But, they will step up to the plate and do their job regardless.