Top-Heavy

You don’t need to just take my word for it. At Defense One R. D. Hooker, Jr. illustrates how the U. S. Army is “top-heavy” and calls for reorganization:

Growth in staff size and the proliferation of unneeded headquarters is accompanied by a strong tendency to “over-officer” the force, one factor in the explosion of personnel costs since 9/11. In 2024, one in six soldiers is a commissioned officer (a 21 percent increase since 2000). About one-third of the Army’s personnel budget goes to officer pay and allowances. Between 1965 and 2018, the number of general and flag officers in the U.S. military as a percentage of the total force increased by 46 percent; of 4-stars by 114 percent; and of 3-stars by 149 percent. Such deliberate rank-inflation and over-staffing contributes to a bureaucratic culture that demands constant reporting from junior commanders, so much so that one authoritative Army War College study found a “suffocating amount of mandatory requirements” they are “literally unable to complete…forcing them to resort to dishonesty evasion.” Almost certainly, this environment contributes to an exodus of young officers who are frustrated by crushing administrative burdens they cannot reconcile with their duty to train their soldiers for war.

In short, the Army should shutter those organizations not deemed essential, reduce the officer-to-enlisted ratio, and streamline its bloated staffs. These measures will increase the number of billets available to operational units, decrease unnecessary reporting requirements on them, reduce personnel costs and increase the productivity and efficiency of those headquarters that remain. Leaner and flatter are watchwords in the private sector—and are clearly priorities for the incoming administration. America’s Army should adopt them as well.

That will have beneficial run-on effects that go far beyond remaining within its authorized end strength. The focus must be unswervingly on readiness and lethality.