In World War II, the U.S. had one General or Admiral for every 6,000 troops. Today, we have one for every 1400 troops. In fact, today we have almost 900 Generals and Admirals serving on active duty in our armed services. More commanders for fewer troops.
At the highest rank, 4-star, in World War II, we had a total of seven, today we have thirty eight. Our most top heavy military branch is the new U.S. Space Command, created by President Trump during his first term. That small, non-combat organization has 29 Generals, including four 4-star Generals, for a ratio of one General for every 409 troops.
The phenomenon is called “grade creep”. It started after WWII and accelerated during Vietnam. The rank authorized for command of many units and organizations was elevated. Brigadier Generals replaced Colonels and so forth down the line. Additionally, many new special organizations and offices were created, and many of them were headed by Generals and Admirals.
In an effort to control the number of officers in each field grade rank – Major and above, or in the Navy, Lieutenant Commander and above, Congress passed the Officer Grade Limitation Act in 1954 and incorporated it into the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act in 1980. Each year’s promotion boards are only allowed to select enough officers for promotion to fill the strength authorized at that rank. When I was selected for Colonel in 1994, only 30 percent of the eligible Lieutenant Colonels could be promoted.
10 U.S. Code 526 places specific limits on the numbers of Generals and Admirals. Today’s limits are as follows:
Army – 219
Marine Corps – 64
Navy – 150
Air Force – 171
Space Force – 21
The Department of Defense is authorized an additional 232 to be assigned to “joint duty” jobs. Those places where members of more than one service work together in the same organization, such as the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a variety of other Pentagon offices. That brings the total active duty Generals and Admirals to almost 900.
Grade creep is not limited to the military. Our average Civil Service grade has now risen to GS-12 with an average salary of over $80,000. At the top of our Civil Service is the “Senior Executive Service”, created by Congress in 1978 as part of the Civil Service Reform Act. Today, it has almost 8,000 members heading over 75 government agencies. All of them are equivalent in rank to General Officers. Their salary range in 2024 was from $147,649 to $221,900, and many were awarded an annual bonus of up to 20 percent of their annual salary.
“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity”.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1890-1969
Author: Staff
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