The military has always had two standards of punishment....officers are always punished lightly.
I am surprised they even talked about taking some rank from Novak. However, they must court-martial her to take rank. As an 0-6 (Captain)....the only way rank can be taken is through a court-martial.
In the military....if you cannot promote them...you cannot take rank from them. Novak would have to be court-martialed...since her promotion would have to be approved by the Department of the Navy at the Pentagon.
I think what will happen is that Novak will be forced to retire...or be administratively discharged
I seem to remember a fellow soldier loosing a stripe via an Article 15 (administered by our C.O.) for getting into a fight with the MPs. But that was 46 years ago (!!), maybe rules have changed on demotions.
I don’t think it is “Navy pilot” influence so much as “NASA + woman + astronut (er, astronaut)” influence and “prestige” and political correctness.
Above all, political correctness. Tailhook killed hundreds of (male) Navy pilot careers in a matter of weeks.