Naturally we have a system in many support units that are officer heavy. In a medical unit, a new RN nurse is likely a 1st lieutenant, a new MD is likely a captain, a new vascular surgeon is likely a major, and experienced surgeons with time in uniform are likely lieutenant colonels or colonels.
In a combat arms branch like armor, a tank platoon of only 16 men and four tanks is led by a lieutenant but...there is about 12 million dollars worth of equipment on hand in that platoon.
This article is silly..
I can only speak of the Air Force, but many, if not most career fields are technical and require officers to perform them..for example pilots..a college degree and a commission are required to enter pilot training. The AF has a lot of airplanes, and they require pilots. The problem with the AF is not the entry or mid-level officers, but the PC generals..AF is bloated with useless senior officers.
“...six military tribunes, a legate, and – arguably – the praefectus castrorum, who was more in the line of a late entry officer, as per the British system.3 Think about that one, one officer per every eight hundred men. And it was plenty...”
Yes, they had a great system but how many chicks did they have?...How many Ethiopians integrated into the rank and file? Now we have to have lots of referees to fight all the EO battles. The JAG is officer heavy.
Like a navy with more admirals than ships
The Marine rifle platoon consists of 42 enlisted Marines and 1 lieutenant, which is a little over 2 percent. A rifle company has 6 officers and 176 enlisted Marines, about 3.4 percent.
The Marine Corps has 21,000 officers — 2,300 are infantry officers and 5,200 are pilot/NFOs.